What’s your greatest superpower in the fight against high blood pressure? It just might be nutrition. “Diet is essential in controlling high blood pressure. You really need to make dietary changes if you want to see changes in your blood pressure,” says Frances Largeman-Roth, RDN. That’s where the DASH diet comes in.
The DASH diet — which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension — is a diet full of heart-healthy produce, nuts, grains, low-fat dairy, and lean protein, with a special focus on blood pressure-lowering nutrients. “Certain types of foods are actually more beneficial in preventing heart disease than other types of foods,” says Satjit Bhusri, MD, a cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Frances Largeman-Roth is a nutritionist and cookbook author in New York City.
Dr. Bhusri is an attending cardiologist at the Lenox Hill Heart & Vascular Institute and an assistant professor of cardiology at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine.
References
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2006). Your guide to lowering your blood pressure with DASH.
Forman, J.P. (2023). Diet in the treatment and prevention of hypertension. UpToDate.
Why trust our experts?
