The DASH Diet Or The Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension!
Most people know that a very large number of people in India suffer from diabetes and it is a very grave disease that can damage the health of multiple organs and can be fatal.
What is probably not as commonly perceived is that there are over three times more hypertensives than diabetics in India and hypertension is as grave a disease as diabetes.
And there is a way of eating that can lower your blood pressure and help you become heart healthy.
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The world famous hypertension prevention diet is the DASH (Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension) diet.
It recommends:
Eat ample fruits and vegetables.
Eat ample whole grains.
Eat lean meat, poultry, fish and legumes.
Consume low fat or fat free dairy.
Eat unsaturated fats, avoid saturated fats.
Limit red meat.
Limit salt, sodium consumption.
Avoid or limit alcohol consumption.
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Health benefits of the DASH Diet:
Lowers blood pressure.
Improves cholesterol.
Lowers heart disease risk.
Supports weight loss.
May lower the risk of diabetes and strokes.
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Adapting the DASH Diet to our food.
Whole grains:
Our major meals basically consists of a combination of whole grain cereals in the form of chapati, rice, bhakri and whole grain pulses and legumes in the form of varan / amti / dal / sambar and usal / pithla. So it is already rich in whole grains, as is advised on the DASH Diet.
Plus both cereals and pulses lack one and three essential amino acids respectively but the amino acid lacking in cereals (lysine) is available in pulses and the amino acids lacking in pulses (methionine, tryptophan and cysteine) are available in cereals.
So we should look to consume cereals and pulses together in both the major meals.
We also consume vegetables in both of our major meals.
So we should consume cereals, pulses and vegetables and moderate amounts of a good cooking oil to cook them, in every meal.
This is not difficult as normally also we eat in the same pattern.
This also implies that we should avoid simple carbohydrates like sugar, jaggery, honey, rava and maida (all purpose flour) and bakery products.
We should consume skim milk or low fat milk, legumes (pulses), fish, lean meats and chicken for proteins.
Skim milk or low fat milk and curds, buttermilk, paneer made from this milk should be part of this diet.
Vegetarians can have adequate low fat milk and pulses and cereals to get proteins sans fats, which the DASH Diet recommends.
Eating low fat dairy (milk and its products) and lean portions of meat and poultry satisfies this condition in people who also consume non vegetarian food.
Eggs too are low in saturated fat and can be included in moderation in this diet, no more than a whole egg a day, for four or less days, especially if you are watching your cholesterol as it has 210 mg cholesterol in a whole egg.
If you eat fish, include sea fish, especially the fatty fish in your food twice a week, it provides healthy fats and the heart healthy sea source omega 3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA.
They prevent inflammation in the arteries and thus help prevent atherosclerosis of the arteries, helping lower the blood pressure and to prevent heart attacks.
It also allows nuts and seeds as they have good fats and are low in saturated fats, but eat them very moderately if you are looking to lose weight. They are high in fats and thus high in calories.
DASH Diet recommends stricter control on salt and sodium.
So use salt minimally in your cooking, avoid high salt, high sodium salty snacks like chips, French fries, fast foods and seasoned, frozen ready to eat meats.
Avoid alcohol consumption completely or reduce it as much as possible.
Also read the article ‘Hypertension’ on this website.