The DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is a flexible eating plan that helps lower blood pressure (hypertension) and reduce your chances of heart disease.
Developed over 20 years ago with support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), this diet involves no special foods or strict plan – instead, it puts emphasis on weekly nutritional goals, portion sizes, and eating a colorful variety of healthy foods including lots of vegetables and fruits.
Foods to include on the DASH diet and serving sizes based on a 2000 calories-per-day diet.
| Foods to include | Daily/weekly servings | One serving size equals |
| Vegetables – from all subgroups, such as dark greens like kale and starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes | 4 to 5 a day | 75g (1 cup) of raw, leafy veg, or 85g (½ cup) of cooked vegetables |
| Fruits – especially whole fruit skins, flesh, and pulp | 4 to 5 a day | 1 medium piece of fruit, or 75g (½ cup) fresh or frozen fruit |
| A variety of grains – at least half of which whole grains such as brown rice and quinoa | 7 to 8 a day | 1 slice of whole meal bread, or 125g (½ cup) of cooked brown rice or pasta |
| Lean meats, poultry and fish | Up to 2 a day | 5g (3oz) cooked meat, skinless chicken, or fish |
| Low-fat or fat-free dairy – including milk, yoghurt, and cheese | 2 to 3 a day | 235ml (8oz) milk, or235ml (1 cup) yoghurt, or 45g (1 ½ cups) cheese |
| Nuts, seeds and beans | 4 to 5 a week | 1 tbsp. seeds, or 2 tbsp. peanut butter, or 43g (1/3 cup) mixed nuts, or 115g (½ cup) cooked kidney beans |
| Foods to limit | Daily/weekly servings | One serving size equals |
| Dietary salt (sodium) | Up to 2,300 mg (milligrams) a day | 1 tsp of salt – including that in processed foods and added in cooking |
| Fats and oils – especially saturated and trans fats found in butter, fried foods, and highly processed meals | 2 to 3 a day. | 1 tsp soft margarine, or1 tsp low-fat mayonnaise, or 2 tbsp. light salad dressing |
| Added sugar and sweets | Limited to less than 5 per week. | 1 tbsp. of sugar, or 1 tbsp. of jam |
| Alcohol | Up to 1 drink for women and men a day | Maximum 14 units a week 1.5 units is a small glass of wine 1 unit is 1/2 pint of 4% beer |
On the DASH diet, limiting your consumption of dietary salt, added sugars, and unhealthy fats while focusing on healthy foods rich in lean protein, fibre, and minerals can help protect your heart and control your blood pressure.
This diet isn’t just for people with high blood pressure or conditions that increase their chances of heart problems – anyone can benefit. At the same time, you can tailor a DASH diet to suit your goals. For example, if you have high blood pressure – a reading of 135/85 or higher – and consume too much salt, the low-sodium DASH diet limits salt intake to no more than 1500mg a day, which is three-quarters of a teaspoon. This is slightly lower than the one teaspoon of recommended salt intake per day – and it results in a substantially bigger drop in blood pressure.
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