DASH in plain English: the eating pattern behind many lower-sodium plans
DASH is more than a sodium ceiling. The current NHLBI plan combines lower sodium with vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, dairy and lean protein choices.
Evidence & cooking guide
Everyday cooking with less salt, built on the principles behind the WHO and DASH advice — including why their headline numbers differ. Your own sodium target and your treatment belong with your clinician, and a potassium-containing salt substitute is not right for everyone.
DASH is more than a sodium ceiling. The current NHLBI plan combines lower sodium with vegetables, fruit, whole grains, legumes, nuts, dairy and lean protein choices.
Lower-sodium cooking works better when flavour comes from acidity, aromatics, spices, herbs, browning and texture rather than simply deleting salt from ordinary recipes.
Australian/New Zealand and US food labels present sodium differently. This Guide shows how to compare products without treating one region’s label shorthand as a universal rule.
Much dietary sodium can come from processed staples and condiments rather than the salt shaker. Learn which product categories are worth comparing and why brands cannot be hard-coded globally.
WHO conditionally supports potassium-containing lower-sodium salt substitutes for many adults, but explicitly excludes people with impaired potassium excretion and some other groups.
Packaged foods and restaurant meals vary widely. A practical lower-sodium strategy compares similar products, notices concentrated sauces and keeps the overall pattern in view.
Sodium and salt are related but not interchangeable label terms. Learn how to read recipe and food-label numbers without confusing sodium milligrams with grams of salt.
WHO, DASH and blood-pressure guidance all support reducing sodium, but their headline numbers are not identical. This Guide explains the scopes instead of inventing one universal target.
Every statement in these guides is recorded as a claim with its sources and the rule attached to it. Read the claim ledger for lower-sodium everyday cooking — 8 claims, each separately citable.