The type of food you eat has an effect on your blood pressure. The DASH diet -- Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension -- is an eating plan that can help treat or prevent high blood pressure. The DASH diet is low in sodium and high in nutrients that help lower blood pressure such as potassium, calcium and magnesium. Recent research has proved this eating plan to be effective at lowering blood pressure. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute provides several examples of DASH-style lunches in their booklet, "Lowering Your Blood Pressure With DASH."
Lunch Example #1
A chicken sandwich made with a 3-oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast on two slices of whole wheat bread, topped with a slice of reduced-fat, natural cheddar cheese, a large leaf of romaine lettuce, two slices of tomato, and 1 tablespoon of low-fat mayo. Serve the sandwich with 1 cup of fruit and 1 cup of 100% apple juice. This lunch provides approximately 717 mg of sodium. To further reduce the sodium in this lunch, swap the cheddar cheese for a slice of low-sodium Swiss cheese. This simple substitution will reduce the sodium in this meal by 199 mg.
Lunch Example #2
A turkey sandwich made with 3 oz. of turkey breast on two slices of whole wheat bread, topped with one large leaf of romaine lettuce, two slices of tomato, 2 tsp. low-fat mayo and 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard. Serve the sandwich with 1 cup of steamed broccoli, and a medium whole orange. This lunch provides approximately 800 mg of sodium. Switching to plain yellow mustard will further reduce the sodium in this lunch by 198 mg.
Lunch Example #3
Make a tuna salad plate with ½ cup tuna salad, a large leaf of romaine lettuce and a slice of whole wheat bread. Serve the tuna plate with a cucumber salad, ½ cup low-fat cottage cheese, ½ cup pineapple and 1 tablespoon unsalted almonds. To make the cucumber salad, use 1 cup fresh cucumber slices, ½ cup tomato wedges, and 1 tbsp. vinaigrette dressing. The total sodium in this meal is about 920 mg. To further reduce the sodium in this lunch, use six low-sodium crackers instead of a bread slice. Doing so will reduce the sodium by 96 mg.
Pulling It All Together
If you have high blood pressure, consider using the DASH eating plan for all your meals. Research has shown that people who follow the DASH diet were able to reduce their blood pressure within two weeks of starting the plan. Planning a DASH meal does not have to be difficult. Use the general principles of the DASH diet to guide your food intake: use less salt; eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains; choose low-fat dairy products; select lean cuts of meat, poultry and fish.
