The dash diet - a diet for lowering your blood pressure?

A diet that is supposed to lower blood pressure - can it really work? How sustainable is such a dietary change, and does it also consider other nutritional principles that are important for long-term health? The Dash diet recommends many fruit, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products, white meat, fish, poultry, nuts, and beans. Sugary drinks and sweets, as well as red meat, should be avoided in this diet.

 

The Dash Diet - diet for treating high blood pressure?

The Dash diet was developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA. The aim of this diet is to reduce blood pressure through dietary changes1, as a large proportion of the US population struggles with this phenomenon. The cause of high blood pressure lies mainly in an unhealthy lifestyle: a lot of sugar, wheat, industrially processed foods, trans fats, too few vegetables and fibre and an unfavourable ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids (read more about healthy fats and a healthy breakfast here) are problematic.

These are linked to high blood pressure and elevated LDL cholesterol levels in everyday life. Lack of exercise and mental challenges (negative stress) are also among the causes.

Studies by the NHLBI have shown that the Dash diet (optimally combined with more exercise) has many advantages over the typical American diet. Among other things, it was found that the blood pressure and LDL cholesterol of the test persons decreased measurably1.

 

Your dash diet shopping list - diet for hypertension

Even though the word Dash diet sounds like a strict diet plan, the diet differs from other diets. It is much more about a balanced diet with some basics based on which one is supposed to develop a sustainable diet. The given examples of meals and weekly menus are meant to be representative of the nutrients represented in the Dash diet1. A diet consisting of the following foods are said to keep blood pressure and LDL cholesterol low:

 

+ Vegetables

+ Fruit

+ Whole grain products

+ Fish

+ White meat

+ Low-fat and fat-free products

+ Nuts

+ Beans

 

 

What foods to avoid with high blood pressure?

These foods should be avoided:

  • Saturated fatty acids (palm oil, coconut oil, butter)
  • Whole milk products
  • Sugar
  • Sugar drinks
  • Greasy meals
  • Red meat

In addition, about 2000 calories a day are recommended.



Does the Dash diet work?

The studies clearly state that a change of diet to the Dash diet lowers blood pressure and LDL cholesterol levels. Nevertheless, the first section also adopted the formulation from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, which has the benefits of the diet compared to a "typical American diet". The typical American diet is known to consist of lots of sugar, industrially processed foods, unhealthy processed trans fats and few fruits, vegetables, organically produced meats such as pastured beef or good fibre. In addition, the average person in the States does not get enough exercise — let alone regular, more intensive exercise. Add to this mental stress and sleep problems and the combination of all these things results in a lifestyle that leads to overweight/obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and elevated LDL cholesterol levels and consequently promotes cardiovascular disease, cancer.

So, if the diet is changed more to natural foods and especially sugar, bad fats and also some processed meat products are eliminated from the diet, it is not surprising that the measurable parameters mentioned change positively. The Dash diet is definitely more health-promoting than the “typical American diet”. However, it also contains some outdated dietary principles that current scientific findings contradict.

 

Possible criticisms of the Dash diet

The first potential problem on the menu is beans. They belong to the legumes and thus contain so-called anti-nutrients. Among other things, these can inhibit digestive enzymes and block the absorption of micronutrients. The second point to mention is fruit because too much fruit can also be problematic: Fructose is metabolized differently and — especially if you are overweight and get little exercise — is converted into body fat or into glucose, which messes up blood sugar levels. Fruits and vegetables in themselves have many health benefits, but the fruit thing is often misunderstood, and many ignorant people start drinking smoothies every day. These drinks often contain 4 to 5 fruits per serving, which is far too much fructose.

The third outdated dietary recommendation of the Dash diet is to greatly reduce dietary fats. Because today the scientific situation is clear: naturally occurring fats are essential and must be consumed regularly. Among other things, they are responsible for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and the formation of hormones, maintain cell membranes, stabilize blood sugar and promote intestinal health. A long-term low-fat diet can therefore have serious health consequences such as hormone imbalance, vitamin deficiency, weakening of the immune system and intestinal problems.

(For more on this, see the articles "Why fat is not equal to body fat" and "Low-fat diet").

Wichtig ist jedoch, dass vor allem natürliche, native Fette genutzt werden und keine industriell verarbeiteten, die erhitzt, desodoriert oder gar gehärtet wurden (wie sie in Fertiggerichten vorkommen). 

The fourth potential problem with the Dash diet is dairy products: Reduced-fat cow's milk products are recommended, which (like non-reduced-fat ones) are now actually increasingly discouraged: They are mostly problematic for the health of the intestinal mucosa in particular, can promote inflammation, trigger immune reactions, worsen the skin's appearance and irritate the hormonal system. Read more about this in the article “Leaky Gut”.

 

Conclusion

The Dash diet definitely has health benefits for people who have developed very unhealthy eating habits and consume a lot of sugar, industrially processed foods, few vegetables and many hydrogenated unhealthy fats. It can improve this problem in people who already suffer from high blood pressure. Nevertheless, diets are better not to be generalized, and blood pressure can be lowered naturally with slightly different dietary principles without consuming fat-free cow's milk products.

 

 

Literature:

1 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: DASH Eating Plan - Also known as Dash diet. [https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/dash-eating-plan; 09.09.2021] 

Ines Schulz
Ines Maria Schulz, geboren am 01.12.1992 in Basel, Schweiz hat auch dort den Master Of Education in Biologie und WAH abgeschlossen, womit sie den Grundstein für das Verständnis von Physiologie und Anatomie sowie Ernährungslehre gesetzt hat. Zudem ist sie ausgebildete Sportlehrerin für die Grundschule. Seit zwei Jahren ist sie Coach bei MTM Personal Training, dem erfolgreichsten Personal Training Studio in Berlin. Dort unterstützt sie täglich Kunden, die ihr maximales Potential bezüglich mentaler und physischer Gesundheit und ihrer Leistungsfähigkeit ausschöpfen möchten. In Kooperation mit Ärzten wie Dr. Dominik Nischwitz und einem Labor für Darmgesundheit sowie dem ständigen Austausch im Team kann sie ihre Kunden optimal über Training, Ernährung, Mikronährstoffe und Lifestyle beraten. Für MTM hat sie bereits ein Frühstücksbuch und einen grossen Teil eines Lifestyle Booklets verfasst. Zudem schreibt sie wöchentlich den Newsletter, in dem Ernährungstipps und von ihr kreierte Rezepte veröffentlicht werden. Ines hat bei verschiedensten erfolgreichen Coaches und Fachpersonen Seminare und Zertifikate absolviert und erweitert stetig ihre Kompetenz. Für Supz Nutrition ist die junge Trainerin seit Januar 2019 mit dem Verfassen von Blogartikeln aktiv.

Häufig gestellte Fragen

What is the Dash diet?
The Dash diet is a diet developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in the USA. The aim of this diet is to lower blood pressure by changing the diet. It involves cutting out foods from a classic American unhealthy diet such as industrially processed foods, saturated fats (palm oil, coconut oil, butter), full-fat dairy products, sugar, sugar drinks, fatty meals and red meat.
Which foods lower the blood pressure?
According to the Dash Diet, a diet consisting of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, white meat, low-fat and fat-free products, nuts and beans lowers blood pressure. However, all industrially processed foods, saturated fats (palm oil, coconut oil, butter), whole milk products, sugar, sugar drinks, fatty meals and red meat must be avoided.
Which diet for high blood pressure really makes sense?
A sugar-free diet, without cow's milk products and without industrially processed fats. Omega-3 fatty acids should definitely be included, as well as lots of vegetables and high-quality proteins. Above all, however, there should also be enough exercise: 8000 steps a day and 2 to 5 more intensive workouts a week also have a positive effect.
How does the Dash diet work in everyday life?
It is very suitable for everyday use; in the restaurant you sometimes have to make special requests, such as having low-fat versions prepared. Otherwise, you just have to buy fresh and natural food and pay attention to the nutritional values.
What is the equivalent of one serving on the Dash diet?
It is calculated with 2000 kilocalories daily - which, however, is too high for many people who do not exercise enough. For example, a meal could consist of 150g of pollock, 300g of French beans and 80g of brown rice.
What are the problems with the Dash diet?
1. Beans: they are legumes and thus contain so-called anti-nutrients. 2. Fruit: Too much fruit can be problematic: Fructose is metabolized differently and — predominantly in the case of overweight and little exercise — is converted into body fat or into glucose, which messes up the blood sugar level. 3. the strong reduction of dietary fats. Because today, the scientific situation is clear: naturally occurring fats are essential and must be consumed regularly. 4. dairy products: Reduced-fat cow's milk products are recommended, but are actually now increasingly discouraged (as are non-reduced-fat ones): They are mostly problematic for the health of the intestinal mucosa, can promote inflammation, trigger immune reactions, worsen the skin's appearance and irritate the hormonal system.

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