Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)
January 18th, 2018 by admin
While many people are aware of the connection between high blood pressure and heart problems, the relationship between long-term high blood pressure (hypertension) and kidney disease is less known. In fact, hypertension is one of the most common causes of kidney disease in the United States! That means we have more work to do with educating people on avoiding and treating their hypertension diagnosis. That’s where the team at Kidney Care comes in. Together with our certified hypertension specialists, Dr. Arley Diaz, Dr. Michael O’Shea, and Dr. Anthony Poindexter, we provide the right medical care and knowledge to help our patients.
Right now we are focusing on providing more information on a good dietary plan for hypertension patients. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan reduces the amount of sodium that you take in, which research shows helps with high blood pressure. Instead, we recommend eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, poultry, nuts, beans, and low-fat dairy products. This is best done gradually, so that it slowly becomes second nature to cook and eat with less sodium. Most of the recommended foods are fairly easy to incorporate into your diet and don’t require complicated recipes. You might also have an easier time with weight loss efforts, since many of the foods are low in calories, trans fat, and cholesterol.
This publication from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NIH) offers a guide that helps you design an eating plan based on your physical activity, calorie needs, and allergies. As always, you can ask our staff any questions you have about DASP, this guide, and how to best take care of your health. We are here to help!
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