6 Healthy Tips From the DASH Diet

Whether you’re on the DASH diet or not, apply these healthy tips to your daily life.

6 Healthy Tips From the DASH Diet

By Toni Gasparis

The DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is a lifestyle plan that concentrates on lowering blood pressure through diet to prevent the development of health conditions such as diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease, and stroke. There are key points of this diet that should be practiced by everyone for healthy eating and healthy living. Check out the things you can learn from the DASH diet to better your overall health.

More: DASH Diet 101: What You Need to Know

Reduce Your Sodium Intake

Reduce Your Sodium Intake

Sodium is one of the biggest offenders in terms of your blood pressure, which is why reducing your salt consumption is one of the main pillars of the DASH diet. Whether you have high blood pressure or not, excessive sodium is not good for your body so you should consider cutting down on it in your daily life. Avoid adding salt to boiling water when you cook rice and pasta or eating foods that you know are salty. When food shopping, look at the sodium content of items before purchasing. If salt is the main staple in your diet try swapping it out with spices and herbs instead.

More: 7 Tasty Salt Substitutes

Is Your Stomach Cramp Actually Diverticulitis?

It may not just be indigestion.

We've all been there — we get a cramp in our stomach, maybe with some nausea or constipation. It's easy to think it may just be indigestion. But what if it's something more serious like diverticulitis? That's a condition of inflammation or infection in one or more small pouches that can form in your digestive tract. Here's how to tell the difference between the pain and how to know when you should see a doctor.