The Mediterranean diet and the dash diet are two of the most recommended diets to follow, primarily due to the amount of scientific backing they have.
Although there are some slight differences between the two diets, both can be combined into one, with salt and sodium considerations taken from the DASH diet and the style of meals taken from the Mediterranean diet.
This article will cover both diets and offer a practical 7 day plan you can follow, including a shopping list and structured meal plan.
What is the Mediterranean Diet?
The Mediterranean diet is a way of eating that is inspired by the traditional cuisine of countries along the Mediterranean Sea during the 1960s.
This includes countries and regions countries such as Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Southern Italy and North Africa.
This diet emphasizes foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts, and lean proteins such as fish. It also includes the moderate use of olive oil (a healthy monounsaturated fat) and a little red wine.
What is the DASH Diet?
The DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, was developed specifically to help individuals lower their high blood pressure.
The DASH diet encourages the intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy, while limiting foods high in saturated fats and sugar.
What Foods are Included in Both Mediterranean and DASH Diets?
Both diets share many common foods. These include:
- Fruits and Vegetables: Both diets encourage consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables.
- Whole Grains: Both diets recommend choosing whole grains over refined grains.
- Lean Proteins: Lean proteins are foods low in saturated fat. Both diets suggest eating lean proteins such as poultry, fish, beans and legumes.
- Nuts and Seeds: These are considered healthy fats and are included in both diets. Although they are calorie-dense, many studies find they are great for both health and weight reasons.
- Healthy Fats: These include foods such as olive oil, fatty fish, avocado, nuts and seeds. Olive oil is particularly prevalent within the Mediterranean diet as is the main cooking oil.
What Foods Should be Limited on a Mediterranean and DASH Diet?
Both the Mediterranean and DASH diets advise against the following:
- Saturated and Trans Fats: These are found in foods like butter, fatty meats, and processed foods.
- Refined Grains: Foods such as white bread and white rice should be replaced with whole grains.
- Sugary Drinks and Sweets: Foods and beverages high in added sugars should be limited.
- High-Sodium Foods: Both diets recommend limiting the intake of high-sodium foods like processed meats and canned soups.
What Are the Health Benefits of a Mediterranean and DASH Diet?
Both diets have been associated with numerous health benefits.
- Weight Management: Focusing on eating whole foods can help people maintain a healthy weight without needing to eat excess calories.
- Heart and Cardiovascular Disease: Both diets emphasize eating foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These foods have been linked with a reduced risk of developing these diseases.
- Lower Blood Pressure: The DASH diet is specifically designed to help lower high blood pressure. However, the Mediterranean diet can also contribute to this benefit due to its emphasis on fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins.
- Lower Cholesterol: Both diets find that eating can reduce the ‘bad’ (LDL) cholesterol and improve the ratio of good:bad cholesterol (HDL: LDL).
- Improved Brain Health: These types of diets show studies for improvements in anxiety and depression as well as age-related disease such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
- Reduced Risk of Other Factors: Following a healthy diet has been found to have reduced risk for conditions such as type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, osteoporosis and more.
Since the diets are fairly similar, a lot of the health benefits overlap. You can check our much larger database of health benefits of the Mediterranean diet with accompanying studies here.
What Are the Differences Between a Mediterranean and DASH Diet?
While both diets share many similarities, there are also a few key differences:
- Purpose: The DASH diet was specifically designed to lower blood pressure, while the Mediterranean diet is a general diet that reflects the traditional eating patterns of Mediterranean countries.
- Fat Intake: The Mediterranean diet generally includes higher intake of healthy fats, compared to the DASH diet. This is usually because it encourages the use of olive oil as the main form of cooking oil.
- Alcohol: Moderate consumption of red wine is allowed in the Mediterranean diet, but not specifically recommended in the DASH diet. However, we’ve covered red wine on the Mediterranean diet in more detail here (and why you should probably avoid it).
- Sodium: The DASH diet places a stronger emphasis on limiting sodium intake compared to the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet generally has low-sodium choices, but may occasionally include more high-sodium foods (such as feta cheese, olives etc)
- Dairy: The DASH diet includes more low-fat and non-fat dairy products compared to the Mediterranean diet. However, the Mediterranean diet does encourage the use of low-fat dairy overall.
7 Day Mediterranean DASH Diet Meal Plan
Sample Menu
In the meal plan are recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Blueberry Blues Porridge | Greek Salad | Haddock Risotto |
| Tues | Basil & Spinach Scramble | Falafel Wraps | Eggplant & Lentil Bake |
| Wed | Tomato & Watermelon Salad | Carrot, Orange & Avocado Salad | Mediterranean Chicken, Quinoa & Greek Salad |
| Thurs | Blueberry Blues Porridge | Mixed Bean Salad | Grilled Vegetables with Bean Mash |
| Fri | Basil & Spinach Scramble | Panzanella Salad | Salmon & Chickpea Salad |
| Sat | Tomato & Watermelon Salad | Spiced Carrot & Lentil Soup | Chicken Gyros |
| Sun | Blueberry Blues Porridge | Moroccan Chickpea Soup | Spicy Mediterranean Beet Salad |
- A handful of nuts or seeds
- A piece of fruit
- Carrots or baby carrots
- Berries or grapes
Day 1: Monday
Breakfast: Breakfast Blues Porridge
Nutrition
- Calories – 347
- Protein – 15g
- Carbs – 42g
- Fat – 15g
Prep time: 5 minutes
Ingredients (for 2 people)
- ½ cup (50g) porridge oats
- ⅚ cup (200ml) milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
- ⅛ cup (25g) chia seeds
- ¾ cup (150g) blueberries
- ⅓ cup (25g) flaked almonds
Instructions
- Mix the porridge oats, milk, vanilla extract, Greek yogurt and chia seeds in a bowl and soak for one minute. Once the oats have softened, add some of the blueberries.
- Place the mixture into two bowls and add any remaining berries and almonds.
Lunch: Greek Salad
Nutrition
- Calories – 273
- Protein – 6g
- Carbs – 14g
- Fat – 24g
Prep time: 5 minutes
Ingredients (for 2 people)
- ⅘ cup (120g) cherry tomatoes,
- 1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped
- ½ red onion, thinly sliced
- ⅓ (60g) or about 16 Kalamata olives
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ⅓ cup (50g) feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl and lightly season. Serve with wholemeal bread.
Dinner: Haddock Risotto
Nutrition
- Calories – 508
- Protein – 40g
- Carbs – 46g
- Fat – 15g
Prep time + cook time: 45 minutes
Ingredients (for 2 people)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large leek, thinly sliced
- ¾ cup (150g) risotto rice, such as arborio or carnaroli
- 1 ½ cups (350ml) vegetable stock
- ½ cup (125ml) milk
- 9-10 oz (280g) smoked haddock,
- skinned and cut into large chunks
- 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
- 1 ⅔ cups (50g) baby spinach
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400F (200C). Heat the oil in an oven-proof dish over a medium heat. Cook the leek for 4-5 minutes, until just tender. Add the rice and stir for 2 extra minutes.
- Add the stock and milk, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the haddock on top. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 18 minutes until the rice is tender.
- Add the Greek yogurt and spinach and season. Cover the pan again and leave to rest out of the oven for 3 minutes before serving.
Day 2: Tuesday
Breakfast: Tomato and Watermelon Salad
Nutrition
- Calories – 177
- Protein – 5g
- Carbs – 13g
- Fat – 13g
Prep time + cook time: 5 minutes
Ingredients (for 2 people)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp chopped mint
- ⅘ cup (120g) cherry tomatoes, chopped
- 1 ⅔ cups (250g) watermelon, cut into chunks
- ⅔ cup (100g) feta cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- For the dressing, Mix the oil, vinegar, chilli flakes and mint and then season.
- Put the tomatoes and watermelon into a bowl. Pour over the dressing, add the feta, then serve.
Lunch: Falafel Wraps
Nutrition
- Calories – 424
- Protein – 21g
- Carbs – 44g
- Fat – 21g
Prep time + cook time: 12 minutes
Ingredients (for 2 people)
- 2 wholemeal wraps
- 4 falafels (about 3.5 oz / 100g)
- ½ avocado
- Small bunch of parsley, chopped
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp harissa
For the tahini sauce:
- ¼ cup (60g) Greek yogurt
- ½ tbsp tahini
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- ¼ tsp ground cumin
Instructions
- To make the tahini sauce, add the ingredients plus some seasoning to a bowl and mix together.
- Heat a dry frying pan over a medium heat and warm the flatbread for 1 minute, flipping halfway through. Spoon some tahini sauce on the flatbread along with the falafel and tahini. Scatter the parsley, squeeze the lime juice and add the harissa. Roll and serve.
Dinner: Eggplant Lentil Bake
Nutrition
- Calories – 444
- Protein – 17g
- Carbs – 52g
- Fat – 20g
Prep time + cook time: 60 minutes
Ingredients (for 2 people)
- 1 eggplant / aubergine, sliced lengthways
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ⅓ cup (70g) lentils
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ¾ cup (150g) cooked butternut squash
- 7 oz can (200g) chopped tomatoes
- ½ small pack basil leaves
- ⅓ cup (60g) feta
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425F (220C). Add oil to each eggplant side. Lay on baking sheets, season and bake for 15-20 minutes, turning once. Cook lentils following pack instructions.
- Heat oil in frying pan. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add squash & tomatoes, plus ½ can of water. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the sauce thickens. Stir in lentils, basil & seasoning.
- Spoon layer of lentils into baking dish, then eggplant slices and repeat. Scatter feta and bake for 15 more minutes until cheese is golden.