Not all diets are passing fads: some have ample evidence to back up their health claims. Unfortunately, in some notable cases, there’s little correlation between evidence-backed endorsements from medical experts and real-world adoption. Some of the healthiest plans are glossed over in favor of the newest diets trending on TikTok—evidence be damned.
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In particular, there’s one doctor-approved diet that, despite decades of research backing it up, has been tried by just one percent of surveyed Americans within the past year. Crystal Tyson, MD, a nephrologist and hypertension specialist at Duke University School of Medicine, recently told The New York Times that this plan is “the way to go” if you want to lower your blood pressure.
The DASH diet, short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is a balanced and nutritious way of eating that can help you make major strides in fighting high blood pressure and improving heart health. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has ranked it the number one diet out of the 39 “best diets for healthy eating.”
Though many people are aware that the DASH diet extols the benefits of reducing your sodium levels, this is just one facet of the plan that helps your health. Besides limiting sodium, the DASH diet recommends eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and vegetable oils. It also involves limiting sugar-sweetened beverages, sweets, and “foods that are high in saturated fat, such as fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, and tropical oils such as coconut, palm kernel, and palm oils,” the NIH says.
To try the DASH diet, you can begin by filling your plate up halfway with fresh fruits and vegetables, totaling four to five servings of each per day. From there, you can add six to eight servings of whole grains, lean meat and fish in moderation, two to three servings of low-fat dairy, and two to three servings of healthy fats and oils.
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Proponents of the DASH diet recommend consuming no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily, and they add that consuming 1,500 milligrams or fewer will help lower blood pressure even further.
Studies have shown that besides helping to reduce hypertension, the DASH diet may also improve lipid panels, help people lose weight, reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes, and slash heart disease risk. Fifty percent of American adults suffer from high blood pressure, and many are unaware that they are hypertensive. The American Heart Association (AHA) calls it “the silent killer” since it rarely presents with symptoms before taking a toll on one’s health.
Talk to your doctor about blood pressure screening and learn more about ways to keep your numbers in a healthy range. Diet, exercise, quitting smoking, stress management, curbing your alcohol intake, and taking your medications as prescribed can all help keep you safe from the effects of hypertension.
