Is pink salt healthier than white salt?

No. Himalayan pink salt — the salt mined at Khewra — is still almost all sodium chloride. An Australian analysis found you would need about six teaspoons a day for its minerals to matter, which is far too much sodium. The amount of salt is what counts, whatever its colour.

Should I switch to low-sodium salt?

Salt substitutes replace part of the sodium with potassium. In a trial of nearly 21,000 older people with high blood pressure or a past stroke, one with 25% potassium chloride lowered strokes, heart attacks and deaths. But extra potassium can be dangerous with kidney disease or with medicines such as spironolactone, so ask first.

Can I stop my blood pressure tablets once I'm on DASH?

No — keep taking them. DASH works alongside medicine; in DASH4D most people were already taking two or more. If your readings come down, your doctor may lower a dose. Don't stop on your own.

I have diabetes too. DASH or Mediterranean?

Both suit diabetes and share most of their foods. If blood pressure is your main problem, start with this plan; its DASH4D changes were made for people with type 2 diabetes.

Meal plan · High blood pressure

DASH plan for blood pressure, with Pakistani food

Less salt; more vegetables, fruit and low-fat dairy. The diet built in trials to lower blood pressure, with the changes a 2025 trial made for people with diabetes.

Your calorie level

Most men who want to lose weight, or taller, more active women

The dishes are the same at every level; only the portions change, so one family pot feeds everyone.

Send on WhatsApp

Breakfast

about 220 kcal · 19 g carbs

1 roti
1-egg omelette
1 cup chai with low-fat milk, no sugar

Mid-morning

about 100 kcal · 15 g carbs

1 guava

Lunch

about 360 kcal · 48 g carbs

1 katori daal
1 roti
1 plate salad (cucumber, tomato, onion)
1 katori low-fat dahi

Evening chai

about 180 kcal · 19 g carbs

1 cup chai with low-fat milk, no sugar
1 small apple
1 small handful nuts (almonds, walnuts or unsalted peanuts, 15 g)

Dinner

about 530 kcal · 47 g carbs

1 katori chicken salan
1 katori bhindi
2 rotis
1 plate salad (cucumber, tomato, onion)

Bedtime

about 110 kcal · 12 g carbs

1 glass low-fat milk

Whole day

about 1,490 kcal · 161 g carbs

Swap within a group and the totals stay close: any fruit portion for another, fish for chicken, one sabzi for another.

Before you cook

A roti is a 6-inch chapati made from about 30 g of atta, without ghee. A plate of rice is a dinner plate holding about 240 g of cooked rice; a katori is a small bowl of about 150 ml.
Each katori of salan, daal or sabzi assumes one teaspoon of oil — about 2 tablespoons for a family pot that serves six. Measure it: the calories only hold if you do.
Chai has a little milk and no sugar. Extra cucumber and salad are always allowed.

How to follow it

Salt comes first. The limit is 2,300 mg of sodium a day — about one level teaspoon of salt, including what goes into the pot. Less is better.
Take the salt shaker off the table and taste before salting. Lemon, green chilli, zeera, garlic, ginger, mint and fresh dhania add flavour without sodium.
Most salt hides in achaar, chutney, papad, nimko, packet masala mixes, stock cubes, ketchup, soy sauce and bakery food. Cut these before anything else.
Four to five portions of vegetables and three to four of fruit every day. A katori of sabzi and a plate of salad already cover three.
Two to three portions of low-fat dairy: dahi set from low-fat milk, a glass of low-fat milk, plain lassi. Buffalo milk has about twice the fat of cow's milk — 6.9 g against 3.3 g in every 100 g.
Chicken, fish, eggs and daal before red meat, and nuts or pulses most days.
Chakki atta and oats rather than maida and white bread.

Who it's for

High blood pressure, or blood pressure that's creeping up — on its own or alongside diabetes. Because it's built on less salt, it also suits the rest of the family eating from the same pot.

If you have kidney disease, or take spironolactone or another medicine that raises potassium, ask your doctor before starting. DASH is rich in potassium — part of why it works, and why it doesn't suit everyone. The DASH4D version for diabetes was designed with less potassium than the original.

What the trials showed

In the original DASH trial, a diet rich in fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy lowered blood pressure by 5.5/3.0 mmHg compared with a typical diet — and by 11.4/5.5 mmHg in people who already had high blood pressure — with salt and weight kept the same.

The DASH-Sodium trial then added less salt. Among people with high blood pressure, DASH at the lowest salt level brought systolic pressure 11.5 mmHg below a typical high-salt diet.

In 2025, the DASH4D trial tested a version made for type 2 diabetes, with less carbohydrate and more unsaturated fat than the original. With lower salt it cut systolic pressure by 4.6 mmHg in people two-thirds of whom were already on two or more blood pressure medicines, and most of the effect came from the salt. This plan follows those changes.

Easy swaps

Namkeen lassi → plain lassi with roasted zeera and mint.
Achaar → fresh kachumber with lemon and green chilli.
Nimko or crisps with chai → unsalted peanuts or roasted chana.
Packet karahi or biryani masala → your own spices, with the salt measured and added once.

Common questions

Is pink salt healthier than white salt?: No. Himalayan pink salt — the salt mined at Khewra — is still almost all sodium chloride. An Australian analysis found you would need about six teaspoons a day for its minerals to matter, which is far too much sodium. The amount of salt is what counts, whatever its colour.
Should I switch to low-sodium salt?: Salt substitutes replace part of the sodium with potassium. In a trial of nearly 21,000 older people with high blood pressure or a past stroke, one with 25% potassium chloride lowered strokes, heart attacks and deaths. But extra potassium can be dangerous with kidney disease or with medicines such as spironolactone, so ask first.
Can I stop my blood pressure tablets once I'm on DASH?: No — keep taking them. DASH works alongside medicine; in DASH4D most people were already taking two or more. If your readings come down, your doctor may lower a dose. Don't stop on your own.
I have diabetes too. DASH or Mediterranean?: Both suit diabetes and share most of their foods. If blood pressure is your main problem, start with this plan; its DASH4D changes were made for people with type 2 diabetes.

Sources

Appel LJ, et al. A clinical trial of the effects of dietary patterns on blood pressure. N Engl J Med 1997;336:1117–1124. doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199704173361601
Sacks FM, et al. Effects on blood pressure of reduced dietary sodium and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. N Engl J Med 2001;344:3–10. doi.org/10.1056/NEJM200101043440101
Pilla SJ, et al. Dietary patterns, sodium reduction, and blood pressure in type 2 diabetes: the DASH4D randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med 2025;185:937–946. doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.1580
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Following the DASH eating plan: daily servings by calorie level. Updated 25 February 2026. www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dash/following-dash
American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee. 5. Facilitating positive health behaviors and well-being to improve health outcomes: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2026. Diabetes Care 2026;49(Suppl 1):S89–S131. doi.org/10.2337/dc26-S005
US Food and Drug Administration. Sodium in your diet. Updated 5 March 2024. www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-education-resources-materials/sodium-your-diet
Fayet-Moore F, et al. An analysis of the mineral composition of pink salt available in Australia. Foods 2020;9:1490. doi.org/10.3390/foods9101490
Neal B, et al. Effect of salt substitution on cardiovascular events and death. N Engl J Med 2021;385:1067–1077. doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2105675
Jensen MD, et al. 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults. Circulation 2014;129(25 Suppl 2):S102–S138. doi.org/10.1161/01.cir.0000437739.71477.ee
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, SR Legacy. fdc.nal.usda.gov/
USDA FoodData Central. Milk, indian buffalo, fluid (FDC 171280), against milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat (FDC 171265). fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/171280/nutrients