HANDI
Making non-drug
interventions easier
to nd and use
www.racgp.org.au/handi
First published: October 2015 Reprinted with permission from The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
Description
(continued)
Nuts, seeds and legumes 4–5 per week 1/3 cup nuts
1 tablespoon seeds 1/2
cup cooked dry beans
Fats and oils 2–3 a day 1 teaspoon margarine
1 tablespoon low-fat
mayonnaise
2 tablespoons light
saladdressing
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Sweets 5 or fewer per week 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon jam
15 g jelly beans
250 mL lemonade
Tips and Challenges
Referral to a dietitian is recommended for tailored advice and ongoing follow-up.
Referto Dietitians Association of Australia.
Grading
NHMRC Level 2 evidence.
References
Salehi-Abargouei A, Maghsoudi Z, Shirani F. Effects of Dietary Approaches to
StopHypertension (DASH)-style diet on fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular diseases –
incidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis on observational prospective studies.
Nutrition 2013; 29:611–618.
Siervo M, Lara J, Chowdhury S et al. Effects of the Dietary Approach to Stop
Hypertension (DASH) diet on cardiovascular risk factors: a systematic review
andmeta-analysis. British Journal of Nutrition 2015;113: 1–15.
Consumer Resources
There are numerous books about the DASH diet (e.g. The DASH diet, The DASH
diet for beginners, The DASH diet action plan The DASH diet for weight loss).
Most consumer resources for the DASH diet have been developed in the United
States (US). The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (part of the US Department
of Health and Human Services) promotes the DASH diet as a well-balanced diet
for the general public as well as those with hypertension. Some call it the American
version of the Mediterranean diet.
• The US Department of Health and Human Services has produced a brief guide
to lowering blood pressure with the DASH diet http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/les/
docs/public/heart/dash_brief.pdf and a more general guide to lowering blood
pressure http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/les/docs/public/heart/hbp_low.pdf
• WebMD offers some tips to starting and staying on the DASH diet:
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/dash-diet
It also has an action set for using the DASH diet: http://www.webmd.com/
hypertension-high-blood-pressure/tips-for-following-the-dietary-approaches-
to-stop-hypertension-dash-diet
• DASH Diet Oregon provides some useful information and resources about the
DASH diet. While this is a free site, it is paid for by the Oregon Dairy Council.
www.dashdietoregon
• A US-based paid site offers online DASH diet programs (including education,
support, meal plans, tracking tools and recipes). http://www.dashforhealth.com