DASH Diet and its benefits:
This blog is about DASH diet. DASH diet is an eating plan which is used for the treatment of hypertension. As we know hypertension is a worldwide issue and it affects more than a billion people all over the world. Its number is increasing day by day. It is estimated that this number will be doubled in the next 40 years. Hypertension is due to high blood pressure and it affects people of all ages.
It is a serious health issue, if it remains untreated it can also affect a person’s kidney, heart, and stroke. As we know that a healthy diet plays an important role in treating health complications, the DASH diet is designed to treat high blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attacks in people. Potassium, magnesium, and calcium are present in rich amounts in a DASH diet. This diet restricts the foods which contain saturated fats, meat, sugars, and salt.
It is abbreviated as Dietary Approach To Stop Hypertension. Vegetables, fruits, lean meat, and whole grains are more focused on this diet plan. Research has shown that high blood pressure or hypertension is much less in people who eat a plant-based diet such as vegetarians and vegans. So foods of plant origin are recommended in this diet plan. Salt is restricted in this diet, about a teaspoon of salt is recommended per day in this diet which is about 2300 mg.
Other benefits of having a DASH diet:
- Beyond reducing hypertension, the DASH diet has a lot of other benefits such as it reduces the risk of cancer and it helps in weight loss. A normal person's blood pressure is between 120 to 80 mmHg i.e 120 mmHg is the diastolic pressure and 80 mmHg is the systolic blood pressure. While a person with high blood pressure has a reading of 149/90 mmHg. So this diet is recommended to balance this level of blood pressure. When sodium intake is restricted In diet so it helps to reduce the high blood pressure in the patient. Even if a normal person takes a DASH diet it reduces the systolic blood pressure by 4mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 2 mmHg. We should always keep in mind that a decrease In blood pressure doesn't always mean that it reduces the risk of heart disease.
- This diet also aids in losing weight. Research has shown that people who are having a DASH diet experience weight loss. This diet mostly contains plant-based food and it cuts off sugary foods and high fats. So automatically it reduces the calories in the diet and results in weight loss.
- The DASH diet can also decrease the risk of cancer. Recent research has shown that people following this diet have a lower risk of cancers like breast cancer.
- Studies have shown that this diet reduces the risk of metabolic syndrome by up to 81%.
- The DASH diet also reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance is also improved by this diet.
- This diet also reduces the risk of heart disease to 20% and it lowers the risk of stroke to 29%.
