What You'll Eat
No food group is off-limits—you’ll get your share of lean meat, poultry, and fish; whole grains; fruits and vegetables; dairy; legumes, nuts, and seeds; a little fat; and a few sweets. Foods rich in potassium, calcium, protein, and fiber, which are crucial to fending off or fighting high blood pressure, are emphasized. Foods packed with salt, which is known to hike blood pressure, and saturated fats, which raise the risk for heart disease, are all but squeezed out.
You’ve got lots of room to personalize your plan. You can eat when you want and pluck recipes from any cuisine to suit your taste buds.
Recipe Resources
There’s no shortage of free, official DASH recipes available to help you create your menus, but you can also comb a plethora of online recipe collections and low-sodium cookbooks. Take a look at these popular resources:
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute PDF (skip to page 51)
- More NHLBI recipes
- Mayo Clinic
- DASH Diet Action Plan book
- Eating Well
- Better Homes and Gardens
- Food.com
- Taste of Home
- Low-sodium cookbooks
Last updated by Kurtis Hiatt | December 01, 2012
The Mayo Clinic diet plan focuses on lifelong healthy eating. It's rated high in nutrition, safety, and diabetes, but only moderately effective for weight loss.
The Mediterranean diet plan is highly sensible, emphasizing fruits and vegetables, olive oil, fish, and other healthy fare.
The Dean Ornish Diet can be tailored to your specific health issues. The strictest version is challenging because it severely reduces fat intake.
