How it works
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It was designed in research settings to test whether a dietary pattern could lower blood pressure, and it emphasises vegetables, fruit, whole grains, low-fat dairy, poultry, fish, beans and nuts while limiting sweets, sugary drinks, red meat and saturated fat. The pattern is rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium and fibre, and later versions combined it with reduced sodium.
For active people, DASH is a solid base that mainly needs a protein upgrade. Adding an extra portion of low-fat dairy, fish, poultry or legumes at each meal moves intake from the traditional level of roughly 18 percent of calories toward sports nutrition targets. Heavy sweaters may also need to think about sodium replacement around long sessions, which is compatible with DASH as long as daily intake stays reasonable.
Foods to emphasize
Foods to limit
Sample day
| Meal | What it could look like |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Oat or bran cereal with low-fat milk, banana and a handful of unsalted almonds |
| Lunch | Whole-wheat wrap with grilled chicken, spinach, tomatoes and yogurt sauce, orange |
| Snack | Low-fat Greek yogurt with berries |
| Dinner | Baked cod, brown rice, steamed broccoli and carrots, mixed salad |
| Evening | Unsalted mixed nuts and dried apricots |
What the evidence says
The original DASH feeding trial, published in 1997, found that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy lowered blood pressure compared with a typical American diet, and the effect was larger in people with hypertension. The DASH-Sodium trial in 2001 showed that combining the DASH pattern with lower sodium intake reduced blood pressure further. These were controlled feeding studies, which gives the findings high internal validity. DASH was not designed for athletic performance, so protein and carbohydrate targets may need to be adjusted for training goals.