The Peanut Institute - Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet

DASH Diet

The DASH diet was planned to meet specific goals. In addition to blood pressure-lowering benefits, the diet is designed to contain commonly eaten foods that were not supplemented with nutrients beyond what would normally be added as part of common food manufacturing process. Instead of focusing on specific nutrients, the DASH diet focuses on whole foods that are inexpensive and widely available to many people--making peanuts and peanut butter a perfect fit!

We know that the DASH diet can help reduce hypertension, but changing dietary patterns is often challenging. Below is a sample menu plan used in the study. If your current diet resembles the control diet, try making small changes. Aim for a diet that more closely resembles the fruits and vegetables or the combination diet.

Meal	Control diet	Fruits & vegetables diet	Combination diet
Breakfast	Apple juice Sugar-frosted flakes White toast Butter Jelly Whole milk	Orange juice Oat bran muffin Raisins Dried apricots Butter	Orange juice Granola bar Fat-free yogurt 1% low-fat milk Bananas
Lunch	Ham and chicken sandwich on white bread with lettuce, pickles, mustard, and mayonnaise Fruit cocktail	Ham and swiss cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread Banana	Smoked turkey breast sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce and mayonnaise Fresh orange
Dinner	Spiced cod Scallion rice Carrots Butter French rolls	Spiced cod Scallion rice Lima beans Butter Dinner rolls Melon balls	Spiced cod Scallion rice Spinach Margarine Dinner rolls Melon balls 1% low-fat milk
Snack	Graham crackers Vanilla frosting Tropical fruit punch	Peanuts	Peanuts Dried apricots Tropical fruit punch

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