Your eating habits have a big impact on your blood pressure. Following just two simple principles can help you improve it.
Principle 1: Portioned Plate For Quantity
The portioned plate approach makes it easy to decide how much of each type of food to include. Use a plate about 9 inches across, and fill it like this:
- Half your plate: Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli, spinach, and bell peppers.
- One-quarter: Healthy carbohydrates such as whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, whole-wheat bread), starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn), or legumes (lentils, chickpeas).
- One-quarter: Lean proteins like chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, tofu, beans, or low-fat dairy (such as yogurt or cottage cheese).
Following this helps you get a variety of nutrients in the right amounts. Think of each part as a puzzle piece that fits together to support your overall health.
Principle 2: DASH Diet For Quality
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet helps lower blood pressure by emphasizing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy, while limiting sodium, added sugars, and saturated fat. Studies show that it can significantly lower blood pressure¹.
The DASH diet is easy to follow. In the next section, you’ll learn which foods to eat more of and which to eat less of within each food group. You’ll also discover how to estimate portion sizes using your hand and explore a sample 2,000-calorie meal plan to guide you.
🤚 Hand Guide to Portion Sizes
Now that you know what to eat more of versus less, you might be wondering what a single serving from each food group actually looks like. A simple trick? Use your hand as a guide! Aim for balanced portions from each food group at every meal. Here's a quick guide based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
References:
- Moore, T. J., Conlin, P. R., Ard, J., & Svetkey, L. P. (2001). DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet is effective treatment for stage 1 isolated systolic hypertension. Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979), 38(2), 155–158. https://doi.org/10.1161/01.hyp.38.2.155
