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Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) is an eating plan to lower or control high blood pressure. The DASH diet emphasizes foods that are lower in sodium as well as foods that are rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium — nutrients that help lower blood pressure.

The DASH diet features menus with plenty of vegetables, fruits and low-fat dairy products, as well as whole grains, fish, poultry and nuts. It offers limited portions of red meats, sweets and sugary beverages.

Maybe you want to try the DASH diet but aren't quite sure how to incorporate DASH into your own daily menus. To help you get started, here are three days of menus that conform to the DASH plan. Use these menus as a basis for your own healthy meal planning.

Remember that on some days, you may eat a few more or a few less servings than recommended for a particular food group. That's generally OK, as long as the average of several days or a week is close to the recommendations. The exception is sodium. Try to stay within the daily limit for sodium as much as possible. Also note that the values for nutritional information may vary according to specific brands of ingredients you use or changes you make in meal preparation.