The DASH Diet for Hypertension, recommended by the American Heart Association, has been shown in studies to lower blood pressure in two weeks without the use of drugs. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy; includes moderate amounts of fish, poultry, and nuts; and reduces consumption of red meat and sweets. Studies from the National Institutes of Health followed 800 participants and found that the DASH diet lowered blood pressure as much as typical medication.

This is no quirky diet--it's the way the major medical groups have been advising us to eat all along, but with a specific formula that tells you how many servings to eat from each Food Pyramid food group. You also get suggestions for exercising moderately, losing weight, reducing salt, and food shopping.

Included are two weeks of daily menus and 62 recipes, with modified favorites like Macaroni and Cheese and Sweet and Sour Pork with Vegetables, plus innovative dishes such as Mango/Black Bean Salad with Grilled Shrimp and Sweet-Potato Chips (baked). The authors are medical hypertension experts associated with Harvard and Duke medical centers. Recommended for people who want to lower their blood pressure or just eat more healthfully. --Joan Price

More than 50 million Americans suffer from high blood pressure, and most of them control it by taking prescription drugs with potentially dangerous side effects. But there is a natural, affordable, and easy-to-manage alternative to medication: the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet. Developed by a world-class team of doctors and nutritionists, the DASH diet is clinically proven to lower blood-pressure levels and thereby reduce the risk of heart failure, stroke, and kidney disease. Now, with The DASH Diet for Hypertension, readers can benefit from:

• A hearty and healthful selection of DASH menus, recipes, even grocery lists

• DASH weight-loss and exercise programs for everyday living

• The science behind DASH, including calorie worksheets and a formula to calculate body-mass

...and much more from this revolutionary program, which is recommended by the American Heart Association; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the American Society for Hypertension; and other leading medical authorities.

The DASH diet is well documented online. Ordinarily I would say that the price of the book is justified by having the information brought together and organized, but this book fails so very badly at that job. The information is in fact poorly organized, surprisingly so. The book is in every sense unappealing, with bad typography, irritating language and a feeling of having been thrown together with no thought or effort. As for the diet itself, it works wonderfully and can play a big part in your fight against hypertension. But this book is a terrible place to learn about it.

The dietician at the VA Clinic in Lufkin TX says this is the best diet for anyone with high blood pressure. It is a low salt diet and helps a person to lose weight. The American Heart Association has endorsed this diet. It's mostly about portions and the correct amount to eat at each meal. I recommended this book to relatives who have high blood pressure.

This book gives excellent information on hypertension and just regular diet guidelines. Would recommend it to anyone with hypertension or without. Great for someone who wants to lose weight even if they don't have hypertension.

Well, mine was one of those very very very difficult cases for physicians. In fact in my family has been a tradition of very high blood pressures. I have been sort of a buddhist meditator for years in the aim to help my high blood pressure, and I look in Taoism to see if I could find any help for it. Almost three or four weeks ago I received my manual to lower my blood pressure in 14 days. The main problem I had with it was that I had to translate the 67 recipes into spanish, as I live in Colombia, South America, so I just tried to resume the philosophy of the DASH diet, insisting in more fruits, vegetables, less red meat, very very very little sodium and much more dairy products than we usually do.

I decided to order the Dash diet manual the day I had a very severe crisis of blood pressure, 200/120, very early in the morning, even though I had been taking the days before maximum dosis of drugs for hyper tension prescribed by my physician.

So just use it if you have high blood pressures, and you will see the results by yourself!!! It really works!

Now I am just taking one drug, and my aim is to take none, as I had to suspend another maximum dosis of drug with dangerous side effects, as for the first time in my life I had a low blood pressure crisis.

The Dash Diet for Hypertension: Lower Your Blood Pressure in 14 Days--Without Drugs is a good book to learn about Hypertension but as far as the diet is concerned it is far too high in refined carbohydrates and not enough protein. Their diet would be very difficult and or dangerous for a diabetic. The diabetic would have to take much more insulin than necessary to follow the diet. And to lower the blood pressure 6 points is nothing in the total picture. So I would not recommend this book. I have a degree in nutrition and work with diabetics (my husband for one) all the time.