The DASH diet was formulated by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to help people control hypertension. In fact, DASH is short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The diet encourages fruits, vegetables and whole grains while discouraging sugars, sodium and red meat. Here’s more information about the DASH diet.

The DASH diet resulted from a series of studies that examined dietary plans and their results. The diet not only describes good foods, it lists delicious alternatives for junk foods. Junk food and cheating is often the key to ending a diet, so replacing junk foods makes this diet last. The diet also emphasizes fresh as opposed to processed foods – fresh foods often taste better.

The DASH diet comes complete with a published guide book. The guide details healthier versions of many bad foods. In addition, it spells out the DASH diet meal plans along with their nutritional information. The guide is complete with a list of resources to help people stick to the diet.

The website Yahoo contains a detailed information page about the DASH diet. This information page includes links to most major sources on the diet including a Wikipedia entry, a Google blog search, videos that show the progress of people who tried the diet, and many others.