1. Fight High Blood Pressure
You know hypertension by its common name, high blood pressure. The DASH diet, or the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet, can help you maintain healthy blood pressure and at the same time help you reduce elevated blood pressure levels. While the primary goal of the DASH diet is not weight loss, making certain choices while following the diet can help you lose weight. The DASH diet has two variations--the DASH diet and the DASH-Sodium diet. The DASH-Sodium diet yields the best results for lowering blood pressure levels.
2. Start With Grain
To be successful on the the DASH diet, eat lots of grains. In general, you'll want to eat seven to eight servings a day, although that number, as with all of the numbers presented here, varies according to your daily caloric intake. Grain-rich food items include bread, pasta, rice and cereal. In addition to grains, you should eat four to five servings each of fruits and vegetables, two to three servings of low-fat dairy products and no more than two 3 oz. portions of low-fat meat, such as poultry or fish.
3. Watch Out for Diet Wreckers
You must limit your fat and oil intake. In fact, you shouldn't have more than two to three servings per day. Fats and oils pop up in some unlikely places, so be careful when using margarine, salad dressing and mayonnaise. Try to use low-fat versions of these types of foods whenever possible.
4. Room for Sweets
Plenty of flavorful recipes meet the DASH diet's guidelines, but occasionally you're going to want to satisfy your sweet tooth. Good news: the diet allows limited servings of sweets per week. The number depends upon your daily caloric intake. Choose items like sugar, jelly, jam, jelly beans and glasses of lemonade when craving and eating sweets during the DASH diet.
5. Snack Options Exist
It's a lot of work to eat eight to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, so reach for those first. You can also ease your hunger pangs with nuts, seeds and dry beans, but you should try to limit yourself to four to five servings of these per week. Ease your way into the DASH diet when you first start. That means you can have a snack in the beginning, even if it's not officially part of the dietary plan. As your body adjusts to the diet, your need or desire to go off-plan will diminish.
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