Moreover, these effects may even be harmful to your vascular health, even when blood pressure is not impacted ( 6). It is thought that consuming excess sodium can signal your kidneys to set off a hormonal and vascular response that contributes to increased blood pressure. Scientists agree that sodium impacts blood pressure, but how this happens is not well understood - mainly because blood pressure is regulated through multiple complex systems ( 5). And while some sodium is needed for health, too much sodium can negatively impact your heart health. It is also the most common source of sodium in the diet. Salt is a common ingredient found in just about all prepared and packaged foods, making it easy to come by. Thus, the DASH diet emphasizes the following food types: Low Salt Foods Additionally, blood pressure strongly impacts overall heart health and risk factors, so including more heart healthy foods is key. Regardless, with enough quality studies, we can get fairly close to knowing which diet styles and specific foods are most strongly associated with increased risks.įor hypertension, it is well understood that sodium intake and potassium intake strongly impact blood pressure. This is because we are all extremely different and lifestyle factors account for a wide range of variables, not to mention the need to consider age, gender, and genetics. It is extremely difficult to prove that certain foods or diet styles directly effect the incidence of disease or vice versa.
The relationship between food and health is complex to say the least. Additionally, because it is built on healthy eating habits and emphasizes nutritious food choices and portion control, a DASH diet looks similar to suggested dietary approaches for weight loss, and reduced risk of diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, and heart disease ( 3, 4). Health Benefits of DASH Diet Planīesides the potential to lower blood pressure, a DASH diet is associated with other positive health benefits like lowered LDL "bad" cholesterol ( 2). It is crucial to note that the DASH diet is intended to be a lifelong approach to healthy eating, not a quick-fix solution. What they found was that certain dietary approaches were extremely effective in helping to control blood pressure in people with hypertension and those without ( 1)! In fact, the results were so influential, that experts often recommend a DASH diet as the first line of defense in controlling hypertension, even before medication. The DASH diet originated in the early 1900’s when the National Institute of Health (NIH) started funding research to examine which foods and styles of eating impact blood pressure. So a DASH Diet is designed specifically to help lower your blood pressure through changes in eating habits and food choices. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension - and hypertension is really just a fancy way of saying high blood pressure.
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