The DASH Diet for Hypertension

If you or your spouse, your child, or anybody else you care about suffers from high blood pressure, this book can literally be a lifesaver. A world-class team of hypertension and nutrition experts from the medical schools at Harvard, Duke, Johns Hopkins, and Louisiana State University have joined together to produce The DASH Diet for Hypertension, a medication-free program to lower blood pressure in just two weeks. Scientifically proven to work, the DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) is recommended by the American Heart Association, which cited it as one of the ten most important scientific discoveries of the year.

A symptomless condition, high blood pressure is nonetheless a leading cause of heart attack, stroke, enlarged heart, and kidney damage. Of the 50 million Americans who suffer from hypertension, most must control their pressure by taking drugs -- drugs that can have potentially harmful side effects.

No longer. The results of the DASH study -- originally published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine -- prove that the DASH diet alone can control elevations in blood pressure as effectively as does a typical antihypertensive medication. Safe, reliable, and medically sound, DASH offers a simple, effective eating plan made up of familiar foods available at any local grocery store.

What makes the DASH diet truly revolutionary is its uncomplicated emphasis on whole foods -- no pills, no powders, no shakes. In the right amounts, the nutrients found in common foods like fruits, vegetables, and dairy products can combine and interact to lower blood pressure significantly -- in as few as fourteen days.

This book provides readers with the tools -- including handy menu plans and delicious recipes -- to take charge of their diets, their health, and their lives.

This is no quirky diet--it's the way the major medical groups have been advising us to eat all along, but with a specific formula that tells you how many servings to eat from each Food Pyramid food group. You also get suggestions for exercising moderately, losing weight, reducing salt, and food shopping.

Included are two weeks of daily menus and 62 recipes, with modified favorites like Macaroni and Cheese and Sweet and Sour Pork with Vegetables, plus innovative dishes such as Mango/Black Bean Salad with Grilled Shrimp and Sweet-Potato Chips (baked). The authors are medical hypertension experts associated with Harvard and Duke medical centers. Recommended for people who want to lower their blood pressure or just eat more healthfully. --Joan Price