Dieta DASH: alimentación sana que ayuda a bajar la tensión arterial

What is the DASH diet?

The DASH diet - which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension - is a flexible eating plan that helps lower blood pressure (hypertension) and reduce your chances of heart disease.

Developed over 20 years ago with support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), this diet involves no special foods or strict plan. Instead, it puts emphasis on weekly nutritional goals, portion sizes, and eating a colourful variety of healthy foods including lots of vegetables and fruits.

DASH diet food list

Foods to include on the DASH diet and serving sizes based on a 2000 calories-per-day diet.

On the DASH diet, limiting your consumption of dietary salt, added sugars, and unhealthy fats while focussing on healthy foods rich in lean protein, fibre, and minerals can help protect your heart and control your blood pressure.

This diet isn't just for people with high blood pressure or conditions that increase their chances of heart issues - anyone can benefit.

At the same time, you can tailor a DASH diet to suit your goals. For example, if you have high blood pressure - a reading of 135/85 or higher - and consume too much salt, the low-sodium DASH diet limits salt intake to no more than 1500 milligrams a day, which is three-quarters of a teaspoon. This is slightly lower than the one teaspoon of recommended salt intake per day - and it results in a substantially bigger drop in blood pressure.

There's nothing unusual about this eating plan. It's based on established healthy eating knowledge and portion guidelines, and for this reason is similar to many other health-promoting diets, such as the Mediterranean diet.

However, its emphasis on limiting salt has earned it a place among the top heart healthy diets.

Benefits of the DASH diet

Reduce la tensión arterial

Your blood pressure is the force at which your blood travels around the body through your blood vessels. Having high blood pressure means that this force is placing a dangerous amount of strain on your heart to push out the blood - causing damage to your blood vessels, heart muscle, and other organs and increasing your chances of life-threatening heart problems.

By following the DASH diet, you can significantly lower your blood pressure within weeks - whether it's already dangerously high or at healthier levels.

Lowers bad cholesterol

High levels of unhealthy cholesterol - known to scientists as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol - also increase your chance of heart problems, such as heart disease and stroke. This is because LDL cholesterol, a fatty substance, can build up on your blood vessel walls, slow down blood flow, and prevent oxygen from reaching essential organs.

The DASH diet can significantly reduce the build-up of LDL cholesterol, and if fighting high cholesterol levels is your aim, adopting a higher-good fat, lower-carb version of the eating plan can be even more effective.

Other potential benefits

The DASH diet can benefit anyone, whether healthy or in poor heart health. But it may also help people with particular health conditions or goals.

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