DASHing high blood pressure
By Cara Rosenbloom, RD

High blood pressure is the number one risk factor for stroke and a major risk factor for heart disease. Whether you have a family history of high blood pressure or have received a recent diagnosis yourself, eating healthy foods is an important way to keep your blood pressure in check.  

Canada’s Food Guide is one excellent resource for choosing healthy foods. But the Dietary Interventions to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet offers added guidance on intakes of salt, fibre, calcium and potassium to help you control blood pressure naturally.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is when blood moves through your arteries at a higher pressure than normal. It is dangerous because it makes the heart work harder than it usually does. A diagnosis of hypertension becomes more likely as you age, if you are overweight, or if you are of Aboriginal, African or South Asian descent.

The good news: Hypertension can be controlled
Since hypertension has no symptoms, it is vital to have blood pressure checked regularly − at least every two years by a health professional or more often if your doctor has recommend you do so. Once you know that you have it, you can take steps to control it with medication and diet. If hypertension is well managed, you can cut your risk of stroke by 40% and heart attack by 25%.

What is the DASH Diet?
Similar to the amounts specified in Canada’s Food Guide, the DASH diet also recommends eating vegetables, fruit, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry and beans. However, the DASH diet makes these specific additional nutrient recommendations to help naturally lower blood pressure levels:

Aim for 4,700 mg of potassium each day

• Good sources of potassium include whole grains, skim milk, fruit (especially bananas) and vegetables (especially potatoes).
• Try our Squash and spinach skillet.

Aim for 1,250 mg of calcium each day

• High-calcium foods include skim milk, fortified soy beverage or orange juice,  lower fat cheese and yogurt, leafy greens, and canned salmon (with bones).
• Try our milk-based Creamy broccoli soup.

Get 30 grams of fibre each day

• Good sources include vegetables, fruit, beans, nuts and whole grains.
• Try our Strawberry banana sorbet sprinkled with bran cereal.

Restrict sodium to 2,300 mg each day

• Almost 80% of the salt in the North American diet comes from processed and packaged foods, such as deli meats, canned soup, pickles, frozen entrées, sauces and condiments. Read all food labels and try to eat fewer processed foods or ones with reduced sodium.
• Try these home-cooked recipes that are low in sodium but high in flavour:
  • Refrigerator dill pickles – to replace salty pickles
  • Apricot and mustard-glazed turkey breast – to replace frozen entrées or deli slices

Read about the complete DASH diet eating plan.   

Every step helps
Most Canadians aren’t currently meeting the recommendations outlined in Canada’s Food Guide or the DASH diet. For example, most adults get about half of the required intake of vegetables and fruit, do not consume enough milk and alternatives, and take in an excessive 3,000 mg of sodium per day.

The Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition’s recent survey of eating habits showed that the number one change that Canadians are making is trying to eat more vegetables and fruit, which is good news. Introducing even one component of the DASH diet (like eating more potassium-rich foods such as bananas or potatoes) will help lower blood pressure levels. However, using many of the diet’s components together will be even more beneficial in preventing or treating hypertension.

Before changing your diet, speak to your healthcare provider, especially if you have already been given a special diet to follow.

Posted: May 2009