Do you like Indian food? I do. And you know what? If you can cook it without fat, it is perfect for the DASH diet. It contains veggies, spices and yogurt, all ingredients that are recommended by DASH.
Here is an example of a meal from fatfree.com. It will be great for your 1500 or 1200 calorie DASH diet because you can eat quite a lot of it in comparison to some other meals that are higher in calories.
Continue reading “Indian Food On The DASH Diet (Recipe)” »
How can you possibly live on just one teaspoon of sugar per day? Most people put more than that in just one cup of coffee! Any soft drink contains more sugar than that. How are you going to cope with THIS requirement of your 1200 or 1500 calorie DASH diet?
Thinking of reducing sugar on the DASH diet?
Continue reading “Best Ways To Reduce Sugar On The DASH Diet” »
Whether you are on 1200, 1600 or 2000 calorie DASH diet, you are allowed to eat fish, so today I am going to show you a low calorie low fat recipe which consists of foods that lower blood pressure.
For the low calorie DASH diet, non fatty fish is a great choice, especially if you love fish. If you are eating it only because of the recent hype about need to eat fish for its omega-3 content, I will show you better ways.
Baked fish with pineapple relish
Can women over 40 use DASH diet plans published on this website even if their blood pressure is OK?
You sure can. Our diet plans are especially good for women over 40.
What are the top three problem for women over 40?
Continue reading “1200 Calorie Diet Plan For Women Over 40” »
Being on a diet oftentimes means taking all pleasure out of eating.
If you are looking for a DASH diet menu for a week, you can find a few samples on dietitians’ websites. I personally found them all too “technical.” Surely, they meet requirements of necessary servings of grains, dairy, fruit and veggies. But only very disciplined human being who can “chew cardboards” can happily stay on diet plan like this.
Continue reading “DASH Diet Menu For A Week” »
This recipe combines two blood pressure lowering foods, ginger and sesame oil, with rice that provides fiber to your DASH menu.
Sesame oil is available in Thai and Chinese supermarkets in plain and spicy variety. I use both. Having come from the country where spicy foods are not usually consumed ( except we can eat enormous amounts of garlic!), I add spice with caution.
Continue reading “Ginger Rice” »
A pineapple smoothie with low fat yogurt is a perfect DASH diet meal. Pineapple may help to lower blood pressure. As a fruit, it is also a must-have on the DASH diet.
Try to use fresh pineapple rather than canned. There is just too much sugar in canned pineapple, not to mention the fact that all kinds of chemicals are seeping into the syrup from the interior surface of the can.
Continue reading “Pineapple Yogurt Smoothie” »
This is a traditional beet salad recipe that is great for the DASH diet. I brought it with me from the Ukraine. We like it. It’s simple and comforting. The beauty of this salad is that every single ingredient is great for people with hypertension.
Russian Beet Salad With Prunes And Walnuts
Let’s quickly go over the ingredient list:
Continue reading “Beet Salad Recipe For Hypertension” »
I find DASH diet servings very confusing, and what about you? The 1200 calorie DASH diet is by far the most confusing, because most sources won’t even consider talking about eating only 1200 calories per day. The 1600, 2000 and 2400 calorie meal plans are much better explained.
But what if you have decided to to go on the 1200-calorie DASH diet? You can download an example of a daily meal plan on this website.
And, going even further, here is a picture that I have created in order to visually demonstrate how much food you can eat on the 1200 calorie diet for hypertension. Click on the image to enlarge it.
What can you eat on 1200 calorie DASH diet?
If you feel hungry on the 1200 calorie diet, you can take one of the following routes:
a) Eat more vegetables. They are low in calories and help burn fat
b) Exercise and switch to 1500 calorie diet.
I hope this helps to visualize your portions. You are welcome to download an example of a meal plan and start your 1200 calorie diet tomorrow.
Hawthorn is used to lower blood pressure naturally both in traditional and folk medicine.
Hawthorn - food that lowers blood pressure
When in Ukraine, I noticed that every old woman (“babushka”) had a bottle of hawthorn extract. Together with valerian, hawthorn was one of the cheap and available means to deal with heart and hypertension issues, so common in old age. Russian hawthorn is prescribed by doctors and available over the counter as well.
During WWII, when heart medications were in short supply, people turned to herbs and natural medicines like hawthorn.
In fact, the first mention of hawthorn health benefits was found in the book of ancient Greek philosopher Pheophast in 372-287 BC.
Later, Dioskorid, a famous ancient doctor, recommended eating hawthorn berries to patients with kidney, stomach problems and obesity.
And it is accepted in Western orthodox medicine as well. Much to my delight, I found a recommendation to use hawthorn extract to fight hypertension in the Wellness Report By Dr. Blaylock (see page 11) , a neurosurgeon and the author of many books including ”Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills”
About Hawthorn Trees
Hawthorn trees look big and rich in colour, covered by bloody-red berries from top to bottom. Even its Russian name, “Боярышник” (Bojaryshnik) came from the the word “боярин”, (Bojarin) – this is a title that respected members of old Russian society were addressed with.
More than 74 types of hawthorn grow on the territory of the former Soviet Union, and most of them are shorter than their American “cousins” . In the US and Canada, hawthorn looks more like a tree. For example, Duglas Hawthorn (C.dahurica) can grow up to 12 m tall with a trunk diameter of up to 1,5 ft.
In Canada, hawthorn is widespread as well. This picture is taken at Sibbald Point Provincial park on Lake Simcoe, ON – I found a hawthorn tree there:
Ontario Hawthorn Tree - Berries
Leaves, flowers, and berries of hawthorn are all beneficial for your health, although they are used to address different issues.
Hawthorn’s Health Benefits
Hawthorn’s health benefits go far beyond just fighting hypertension.
Hawthorn is used for heart problems, including angina, mild arrhythmias, and congestive heart failure, among others. Its main active constituents are antioxidant flavonoids, including quercetin, proanthocyanidins, and a number of other glycosides. It is used to normalize sleep. It acts primarily by increasing blood flow to the heart and improving its pumping action. For these reasons, it’s largely used for heart-specific pathology.
Not too many scientific studies are available about hawthorn’s effect on high blood pressure. The ones which are published, used very low doses and achieved moderate results. Please read more about this in the blog of Dr. Paddock, ND
Ways to use hawthorn
(Remember to consult with your physician or ND before you decide to use hawthorn for your own benefit.)
Interestingly enough, in Russia and Ukraine, hawthorn berries are used to make jam, either by themselves, or mixed with apples and other berries, for example, black currants. Hawthorn is so powerful that people know to use the jam in moderation. Even 4 tablespoons of hawthorn jam can cause significant drop in blood pressure.
- Hawthorn extract is quite popular,
- As is hawthorn berry syrup,
- And so is hawthorn tea.
- Hawthorn juice is easy to make if you have a juicer.
- A jar of hawthorn blended with sugar can stay in the fridge for a while, and be used with tea or morning porridge.
Hawthorn tea is probably the safest way to introduce hawthorn into your anti-hypertensive diet.
When adopting the DASH diet, help your body normalize high blood pressure by adding hawthorn tea to your menu. Hawthorn tea is available in health stores and online.
