The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) was created to assist in controlling blood pressure. It can also prevent high blood pressure where people are susceptible to the condition. One of the primary goal is to reduce sodium (salt) intake. The diet offers two levels of sodium intake - 2400mg down to 1500mg.

Dash Eating Plan

While the basic Dash eating plan is 2000 calories, it does allow for calorie consumption levels of between 1,600 and 3,100 calories per day. This is allowed for by varying number of servings. It is a balanced high-fiber diet plan, with medium levels of proteins, and higher levels of whole carbohydrates.

The diet is high in the essential nutrients, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

The complete and up-to-date Dash eating plan can be found on the US Government site http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/.

This contains a completely downloadable eating plan to follow.

Dash Plan Successes

The US NHLBI (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) sponsored a serious of clinical trials, and determined that the DASH diet was successful in bringing down high blood pressure. In fact, results would happen within as little as 2 weeks.