DASH Diet: Diet Overview
December 1, 2000
DASH Diet: Diet Overview
This eating plan is from the "Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension" (DASH) study. It is rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods, and low in saturated and total fat. In a report in the April 17, 1997, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, the DASH diet lowered blood pressure and may help prevent and control high blood pressure.
The research centers in DASH were the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston; Center for Health Research, Portland, OR; Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC; John's Hopkins University, Baltimore; and Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute was both a partner in the research and provided funding for the study.
The DASH eating plan shown below is based on 2,000 calories a day. Depending on your caloric needs, your number of daily servings in a food group may vary from those listed.
Tips on Eating the DASH Way
- Start small. Make gradual changes in your eating habits.
- Center your meal around carbohydrates such as pasta, rice, beans, or vegetables.
- Treat meat as one part of the whole meal, instead of the focus.
- Use fruits or low-fat, low-calorie foods such as sugar-free gelatin for desserts and snacks.
Remember!
If you use the DASH diet to help prevent or control high blood pressure, make it a part of a lifestyle that includes choosing foods lower in salt and sodium, keeping a healthy weight, being physically active and, if you drink alcohol, doing so in moderation.
Make DASH work for you!
The DASH diet, based on a 2,000-calorie diet, contains the number of servings from each of the food groups shown in the table. Depending on your caloric needs, the number of servings may vary.
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DASH Diet Details |
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| Food Group | Daily Servings | Serving Equals | Examples & Notes |
| Grains and grain products | 7-8 | 1 slice bread 1/2 C dry cereal 1/2 C cooked rice, pasta, or cereal |
whole wheat breads, English muffin, pita bread, bagel, cereals and fiber, grits, oatmeal |
| Vegetables | 4-5 |
1 C raw leafy vegetable 1/2 C cooked vegetable 6 oz vegetable juice |
tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas, squash, broccoli, turnip greens, collards, kale, spinach, artichokes, beans, sweet potatoes |
| Fruits | 4-5 |
6 oz fruit juice 1 medium fruit 1/4 C dried fruit 1/2 C fresh, frozen, or canned fruit |
apricots, bananas, dates, grapes, oranges, orange juice, grapefruit, grapefruit juice, mangoes, melons, peaches, pineapples, prunes, raisins, strawberries, tangerines |
| Low fat or nonfat dairy foods | 2-3 |
8 oz milk 1 cup yogurt 1.5 oz cheese |
skim or 1% milk, skim or low-fat buttermilk, nonfat or low-fat yogurt, part-skim mozzarella cheese, nonfat cheese |
| Meats, poultry, fish | 2 or less |
3 oz cooked meats, poultry, or fish |
select only lean; trim away visible fats; broil, roast, or boil, instead of frying; remove skin from poultry |
| Nuts | 1/2 |
1.5 oz or 1/3 C 2 tbsp seeds 1/2 C cooked legumes |
almonds, filberts, mixed nuts, peanuts,
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Sample DASH Diet |
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Breakfast |
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(with 1 tbsp jelly) 1 slice 1 grain soft margarine 1 tsp 1 fat
Lunch
Food Amount Servings chicken salad 3/4 C 1 poultry pita bread 1/2 slice, large 1 grain raw vegetable medley:carrot & celery sticks
radishes
loose-leaf lettuce
3-4 sticks each
2
2 leaves 1 vegetable part-skim mozzarella cheese 1.5 slice (1.5 oz) 1 dairy 1% low-fat milk 8 oz 1 dairy fruit cocktail in light syrup 1/2 C 1 fruit
Dinner
Food Amount Servings herbed baked cod 3 oz 1 fish scallion rice 1 C 2 grains steamed broccoli 1/2 C 1 vegetable stewed tomatoes 1/2 C 1 vegetable spinach salad:raw spinach
cherry tomatoes
cucumber
light Italian salad dressing
1/2 C
2
2 slices
1 tbsp 1 vegetable
1/2 fat whole wheat dinner roll 1 small 1 grain soft margarine 1 tsp 1 fat melon balls 1/2 C 1 fruit
Snack
Food Amount Servings dried apricots 1 oz (1/4 C) 1 fruit mini-pretzels 1 oz (3/4 C) 1 grain mixed nuts 1.5 oz (1/3 C) 1 nuts diet ginger ale 12 oz