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The DASH diet is not necessarily a “diet” rather it is a way of eating that will promote long term health. The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) recommends the DASH diet as “an ideal eating plan for all Americans.”

The NIH (National Institutes of Health) says that the DASH diet plan does more than promote good eating habits. It offers suggestions on healthy alternatives to junk food and processed food.

In addition to this, the creators of the DASH diet say that “not only is the DASH diet designed to bring down high blood pressure it is also a well-balanced approach to eating that encourages people to lower their intake of sodium (salt) and increase their consumption of calcium, magnesium and potassium.”

The characteristics of the DASH diet include:

Lower sodium intake

Increased vitamins and minerals

Increased good fats

Increased fiber consumption

Reduction of alcohol and caffeine

Customizable sodium and caloric intake

Lower sodium intake

The DASH diet provides guidelines for your sodium and caloric intake.

The standard DASH diet allows up to a maximum of 2300 mg of sodium per day and the low-sodium version of the DASH diet allows up to 1500 mg of sodium per day.

The average American diet contains up to 3500 mg of sodium per day.

Increased vitamins and minerals

All your essential vitamins and minerals are provided on the DASH diet by the many fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other whole foods that you are encouraged to eat on the diet.

The diet also includes an ample supply of minerals like magnesium and potassium that help to lower or improve your blood pressure.

Increased good fats

Consuming a lot of good fats and minimizing bad fats is highly encouraged on the DASH diet. Saturated and Trans fats should be replaced with lean meats, omega-3’s from fish and seafood, low-fat dairy, nuts and seeds.

Good fats help to optimize our overall health by lowering bad cholesterol and increasing good cholesterol.

Increased fiber consumption

The DASH diet recommends increasing your fiber consumption by eating several servings of fruits, vegetables and grains every day. This keeps you feeling full and helps to reduce blood pressure.

High fiber consumption also helps to maintain good blood sugar levels and it also encourages weight loss.

Reduction of alcohol and caffeine

The DASH diet suggests limiting your intake of alcohol, soda, tea and coffee because they offer no nutritional value, typically contain a lot of sugar and they can elevate blood pressure.

Customized sodium and caloric intake

In the same way that you can choose a 2300 mg/day or 1500 mg/day sodium intake DASH diet, you can also choose the most suitable caloric intake level for you. The DASH diet allows you to choose a diet of 1500 to 3100 calories per day.

The caloric intake that you choose will depend on your weight, activity level, whether you have high blood pressure now or want to prevent it etc.

If you are overweight you will likely opt for the lower caloric intake level. If you are active then you will likely choose the higher caloric intake level.

If you have high blood pressure or are at risk of developing high blood pressure due to family history etc. then you’ll likely opt for the low sodium diet. Consider working with your doctor to come up with the best combination of sodium and calorie levels for you.