What is the Dash Diet?
For a few years now, the DASH Diet has been gaining recognition for its ability to lower blood pressure and reduce the body's susceptibility to a wide array of diseases. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, a regiment that was originally created and given to patients who wanted to decrease sodium in their diets. The theory behind the DASH Diet is that a decrease in sodium consumption leads to a decrease in blood pressure, and therefore this is the perfect regiment for those who are trying to get healthy and stop hypertension. Yet in the process, those who were put on the DASH Diet noticed that they also lost weight! Hence the DASH Diet was introduced to the world.
When the DASH Diet was developed in the 1990s, it originally featured a staple of starchy foods and grains. It was eventually modified into the form that we see today, a diet that relies on an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy that is low in fat, and healthy proteins such as seeds, beans, and nuts. Healthy whole grains such as whole wheat bread are also allowed as part of the diet, but in moderation. The empty carbohydrates that are found in processed white breads and other products, for instance, are obviously cut from the diet seeing as they pack on the calories and they contribute to an increase in blood pressure. Those that stick to the DASH Diet closely have seen it to be one of the most effective ways to shed lbs. and better their bodies all around.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are very easy to plan for: foods are comprised of low-fat dairy products, such as milk and yogurt, plenty of fresh fruit, leafy greens such as spinach and vegetables such as broccoli, lean meats such as chicken or fish, and a serving of beans for protein.
To aid in the weight-loss process, the DASH Diet is commonly broken up into two phases: Phase One lasts two weeks and is designed to target belly fat. Phase Two introduces more foods that were not allowed in the first two weeks, and is the longest-lasting phase, said to be the one that dieters remain on for the rest of their lives.
No matter what the reason for beginning the DASH Diet, the benefits of this regiment cannot be contested, as they contribute to a healthier body overall.
Why Dash Diet / Benefits of DASH Diet
With the overwhelming number of diets out there, it can be difficult to isolate one that will work for your body type and lifestyle. Fortunately, there are a few that seem to work on a general level for people even if their goals are slightly different. The DASH Diet, for instance, is a nutritional regiment that was originally designed for patients with hypertension, or high blood pressure. Doctors and nutritionists figured out that blood pressure increased in their patients when they consumed sodium, and therefore DASH was invented to put their patients on a low-sodium diet.
The benefit of the DASH Diet, however, is that the patients noticed they lost weight in addition to decreasing their blood pressure. Since then, it has been one of the most popular diets to emerge since the 1990s. One of the other reasons to choose the DASH Diet is the versatility that it offers to those who make it part of their daily routines. First, there is an option when it comes to the sodium levels: for those who want a simple decrease in their sodium intake, they can opt for the standard level of consumption of 2,300 milligrams. For those who want to eliminate a significant amount of sodium from their daily intake, their consumption is lowered to 1,500 milligrams per day. Again, this offers some flexibility.
The DASH Diet is also not totally restrictive, as some diets are known to be. A great advantage to this diet is the fact that it can be done in two phases. The first phase lasts approximately two weeks, and during this time the dieter must avoid starchy foods and sugars as much as possible. This is done so that the maximum amount of belly fat is lost during the first two weeks. In the second phase, some healthy starches are re-introduced into the diet with the notion that the body will already have the boosted metabolism to handle them. Dieters continue to lose weight and are encouraged to stick to Phase Two as much as possible for the long haul.
Another advantage to this diet is that Phase Two is so compatible with the eating patterns that people already have by relying on simple switches, such as empty to whole grains and snacks that are filled with protein. There is not a lot of sacrifice, but a huge benefit when all is said and done.
Tips for Food Shopping For the DASH Diet
Sticking with the Dash diet and getting the results you want starts with the food you buy. The easiest way to buy the right foods is to follow the tips we have listed below.
Before you go grocery shopping:
Make a list. Look through this cookbook and decide which meals you're going to make for the up coming week and write down the ingredients for them on your shopping list.
Keep these tips in mind as you plan your shopping list:
Plan your meals around seasonal fruit and vegetables
Choose whole-grain foods like whole-wheat pasta, 100% whole-wheat bread, brown rice, barley, and quinoa
Include beans, peas, or lentils for delicious and filling protein and fiber
Include fresh lean meats, skinless poultry, seafood, and tofu
Try low-fat and fat-free dairy products
Choose low-sodium canned vegetables, tomato sauce, beans, broth and soups when available
Include low-calorie beverages like low-fat or fat-free milk, 100% fruit juice, low-sodium 100% vegetable juice, herbal teas, and mineral water Try low-sodium dressings and condiments when available
- Eat first. We all know this but we often forget not to shop when hungry. If you shop when you're hungry, you may find yourself buying those high-fat, high-sodium items that you are trying to avoid.
- Don't Forget your DASH guidelines while you shop
Stores can be very deceiving with large displays and bargain prices on items that don't meet the Dash guideline. Try you best to focus on foods that support the DASH diet guidelines:
- Buy fresh whenever possible. Fresh foods are frequently healthier choices than are processed foods because they often include less sodium, fat and added sugar. Fresh foods also frequently have more flavor and vitamins, minerals and fiber than their packaged counterparts do.
- Focus on the Outer Aisles. The outer aisles are where you will your fresh produce, low-fat dairy products and lean meats.
- Read labels. Most packaged foods in the U.S. have a Nutrition Facts label that can help you decide how they fit into your DASH diet. It's also good to use labels to compare multiple items to choose the one that's lower in sodium and fat and has fewer calories.
Dash diet refers to:
D Dietary
A Approach to
S Stop
H Hypertension
This diet helps to put you through the normal way of eating and to ensure that your normal range in blood pressure is brought under control.
There are basically two coordinators of this diet, they are:
Blood institute responsible for the normal salt intake
U.S, National Heart, Lung
This study intends to curb the amount of salt intake daily, daily salt consumption especially in WEST AFRICA trolls to about 7 to 10 thousand mg daily which is not good to the body system, this mostly is as a result of the canned or processed food we daily consume.
DASH DIET, THE WORKING DIET
From basic research, it shows that the following nutrients are in adequate in our daily consumption:
Calcium
Potassium
Magnesium
Most diet we consume usually has the following nutrients in larger amount:
High sugar content
High salt
High fat
But are extremely low in mineral and fiber which disallow our blood pressure range to fall within the normal range
Dash diet has now been put in place to ensure proper dietary intake that allows for functioning body nutrients.
This diet contains beneficial nutrients such as:
Grains
Vegetables
Fruits
Beans
Lean protein
Low fat dairy products
DASH DIET DESIGNATION
The design of this diet vary based on some factors, it's a well-designed diet having about 2000 calorie daily. Factors to be looked into or considered are:
Activity level
Age
Gender
Weight
SERVING SIZES FOR DASH DIET
Dash diet has lots of serving sizes, some of which are:
DAIRY: One cup of low fat milk
FRUITS AND VEGGIES: Half cup of veggies with chopped fruit, one medium fruit, a cup of leave green, three quarter of a cup of 100% fruit juice, dried fruit of about quarter size.
GRAIN: Cooked grain of about half cup, wheat bread 1 slice, dry cereal 1 ounce
PROTEIN: Lean meat, 2-3 oz, four egg white, dried beans about half cup, nut butter 2 spoons (peanut)
BLOOD PRESSURE IN DASH DIET
If you have hypertension and you really intend cutting down on this condition, dash dietary intake will be of help, this is as a result of the low sodium intake this diet contain, high intake of salt affects your health as an hypertensive patient, so with dash diet, lesser salt intake will be consumed, and high fiber food content rich in calcium and potassium will be administered, with this, your condition will be improved.
Life style changes also aims at improving your condition.
LIFESTYLE CHANGES THAT HELPS
The following lifestyle changes tips can really be of help:
Let your orders be mostly vegetables
Extra pounds should be reduced Healthy breakfast should be taken
Cut down on sugar
FOOD NUTRIENTS
Various food nutrients exist, some are:
Magnesium
Calcium
Sodium
Potassium
Cutting down sodium in your daily intake really help, eating food that brings down or helps cut sodium in diet benefits the body rather than taking food high in sodium.
Two powerful minerals (potassium and magnesium) should be included daily in your meal, it helps bring your condition under control, it also thus helps bring high blood pressure to check.
Administering 4.7g potassium daily helps to care for the kidney and allows for normal kidney function.
Also, administering about 1200g of calcium helps to keep your blood pressure low; it also thus helps to strengthen your bones.
EATING WHOLE GRAIN FOOD
Take more of whole grain food, researches states that those who consumes more of whole grain food has lower risk of having High Blood Pressure.
The following food could help in blood pressure lowering:
Banana
Potatoes
Cinnamon
Peaches
Nectarines
Kiwi fruits
Wild blueberries
White beans
Beetroot juice
Dark chocolate
Sweet potatoes
Decaf coffee
Hibiscus tea
Fat free plain yoghurt
Cranberry juices
Purple potatoes
Pomegranates
Reducing your salt intake helps to cut low on increased blood pressure, should you are the salt lover type, take it far away from sight.
BASIC GUIDE
Like earlier discussed, this diet is aimed at reducing increase in blood pressure; those having increased blood pressure which is termed hypertension has been linked to some medical condition such as:
Stroke
Heart disease
Kidney failure
What we consume plays a vital role either in raising our blood pressure or lowering it, so by this, dietary strategies has been designed to help reduce the rate at which blood pressure rises.
DASH DIET IMPORTANCE
Like we discussed, this diet aims at bringing down blood pressure, aside this, dash diet also plays a vital role in weight loss and reduced cancer risk.
The ways by which this diet acts is as follows:
It helps in blood pressure lowering
Once this diet is followed with care, both systolic and diastolic pressure will be monitored and controlled.
If you are on this diet, low blood pressure will be observed if salt intake is reduced or if weight is not loss.
Dash diet works faster and better for those, whose blood pressure is high, this diet helps bring it to a more considerable state.
To some who assumes that decrease in blood pressure could lead to decrease in heart rate, it is a capital NO for this diet, for this diet, decrease in blood pressure on this diet does not mean a decrease in heart rate.
Dash diet plays a vital role in weight loss
If your weight is loss or not, for this diet, low blood pressure will be observed. Normally, the more you weigh, the more chances of you having increased blood pressure.
Cutting down on weight will positively affects your blood pressure. This diet encourages low calorie and salt intake.
Should losing weight is what you delight in, go on a calorie reduced diet or meal
It thus decreases cancer risk
Heart disease risk is decreased
Diabetes risk is also lowered
Due to low salt intake, metabolic syndrome risk is decreased
DASH DIET, WHO IT WORKS FOR
This diet works for the following people:
Dash diet works for hypertensive individual
It works for those who want to cut down on calorie
It works for those with intension of losing weight
Those whose medical condition is as a result of increased salt intake, this diet works perfectly well for them
DOES EATING LITTLE SALT AFFECTS?
Eating little salt has also been linked to some medical condition such as:
Insulin resistance
Fluid retention
Increased risk of heart disease
It is best one consumes lesser than 1500mg of salt daily, this amounts to ¾ teaspoon.
DASH Diet Food List
If you are still struggling on what food to buy when you go food shopping, below is a comprehensive list of foods and ingredients you should be able to use safely with the dash diet
Fruits & Vegetables:
Apples
Artichokes
Bananas
Berries
Bell Peppers
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Corn
Grapes
Green Beans
Lemons & Limes
Mushrooms
Lettuce
Onions
Pears
Pineapple
Potatoes
Raisins
Sprouts
Squash
Meat &
Seafood:
Beef
Chicken
Turkey
Eggs
Fish
Salmon
Shrimp
Bread & Grains:
Barley
Brown Rice
Oats (some)
Whole Wheat Bread
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Whole Wheat Pasta
Whole Grain Cereal
Wild Rice
Nuts & Seeds:
Almonds
Cashews
Peanuts
Pecans
Pumpkin Seeds
Walnuts
Dairy:
Reduced-fat Cheeses
Cottage Cheese
Fat-Free Milk
Margarine
Sour Cream
Tips for the Dash Diet
Be prepared to make a life style change. The Dash Diet is not a quick fix, this is a diet plan that you will need to continue your whole life.
To reach 3 servings of dairy products, try adding a low-fat dairy product at each meal.
When choosing your vegetables use fresh or low-sodium (no salt added) canned or frozen. Don't use table salt and butter when serving these vegetables.
Read food labels thoroughly and choose low sodium and low-fat (especially saturated fat) foods. If you feel the need for something sweet, nosh on a dried fruit.
Use substitutes for some food items. For example; use whole wheat pasta or brown rice instead of the standard noodles and white rice. For desserts, opt for fruits or other healthy foods instead of sweets and high calorie items.
Exercise is always an important part of any healthy lifestyle. Eating healthy foods like those of the Dash Diet plan is only part of the diet. Being active and planning an exercise program to accompany your diet is also very important.
Trying using a food journal to help you keep track of what you are eating
Here are some other important many benefits due to this phenomenal diet:
- It will slow up the probability of cancer
- It will decrease your cholesterol
- It will reduce the risk of diabetes
- It will reduce the probability of osteoporosis
- It can help you lose any additional weight
The main thing you must do to have each one of these goals is always to decrease the sodium intake to forget about that 2300 mg every day and start consuming healthier products.
During the diet program you can consume a lot of veggies, fruits, beans, nuts, healthy oils, low-fat dairy products, whole grain products and cereals, poultry, fish, seafood and some hard working liver nevertheless, you must give up the majority of the fat and sugar intake.
You also can use canned ingredients to cause you to Dash meals but be sure you go for low-sodium or no-salt-added ones.
See? The Dash diet is not really a strict one! There are a lot of great and delicious meals it is possible to make using the ingredients you are eligible you can eat!
WHAT TO EAT
Dash diet does not list foods to consume; it rather recommends specific food servings.
The consumed food calorie depends on the serving number one consumes:
Whole grain per day serving: about 6-8
A slice of whole grain bread
One once of dried grain cereal
Half cup of cooked rice Vegetable per day serving: about 4-5
Raw or cooked half of sliced vegetable
One cup of spinach
Fruits per day serving: about 4-5
Half cup of fresh frozen peaches
A medium apple
Half cup of dried apricots
Dairy product per day serving: about 2-3
A cup of low fat yoghurt
A cup of low fat milk
Half ounces of low fat milk
Meat, fish per day serving: about 6 or fewer serving
One egg
One ounce of cooked fish or meat
Seeds, legumes per day serving: about 4-5
Two teaspoon of seeds
1/3 nut cups
Half cup of cooked legumes
Nut butter two table spoons
Fat and oil per day serving: about 2-3
Two tea spoon of salad dressing
A teaspoon of mayonnaise
A tea spoon of soft margarine
Vegetable oil, a tea spoon
Added sugar and candy per day serving: about 5
A cup of lemonade
A teaspoon of jam
A tea spoon of sugar
A WEEK SAMPLE MENU FOR DASH DIET
FIRST DAY SAMPLE MENU
BREAKFAST
A store bought, whole wheat bagel with two table spoons of peanut butter with no salt added
FIRST DAY
Breakfast:
Decaffeinated coffee
One medium orange
A cup of fat free milk
Whole meal bagel with peanut of about 2 table spoon with no salt
LUNCH
Spinach salad will be made with the following:
A sliced pear
A cup of fat free milk
Half cup of mandarin orange sections
One quarter cup slivered almond
Two table spoon of red wine vinaigrette
Four cups of fresh spinach leaves
Reduced sodium wheat crackers about 12
DINNER
Herb crusted baked cod, three ounces cooked Two teaspoon of olive oil
Herbal ice tea
Half cup of brown rice with vegetable
Four vanilla wafers
One small sourdough roll
Take snacks anytime
Half cup of fresh green beans, steamed
One cup of fat free low calorie yogurt
Chopped mint with one cup fresh berry
DAY 2
Breakfast
One bran muffin
Herbal tea
Cup walnut of about 1/3
A cup of fat free milk
One tea spoon of Tran's free margarine
A cup fresh mixed fruit
LUNCH
Curry chicken wrapped made with
Eight raw of baby carrot
A cup of fat free milk
One medium whole wheat tortilla
Half teaspoon of curry powder
2/3 cup cooked, chopped chicken about three ounce
11/2 light mayonnaise
Half cup of chopped apple
DINNER
One nectarine
Two cup mixed salad green
Sparkling water One small whole wheat roll
Take snacks anytime
One teaspoon of olive oil
One tea spoon low fat Caesar dressing
One fat serving
Quarter cup raisins
Two teaspoons of sun flower seed
Trail mixed with twenty two unsalted mini twist pretzels
A cup cooked, whole wheat spaghetti, one cup of marinara sauce, no salt added
DAY 3 MENU
One banana
One teaspoon trans free margarine
One cup fat free milk
One cup old fashioned cooked oatmeal topped with one teaspoon cinnamon
One slice of whole wheat toast
LUNCH
Tuna salad made with:
Fifteen grapes
One cup of fat free milk
Eight melba toast crackers
Two teaspoon light mayonnaise
Served on 21/2 cups romaine lettuce
One cup drained unsalted water packed tuna, three ounce
DINNER
Beef and vegetable kebab made with:
1/3 cup pecans
One cup of pineapple chunks
One cup cooked wild rice One cup of light yoghurt
One medium peach
Take snack anytime
Three beef ounces
Four ounces crane raspberry juice
Four- eight sparkling water Cran raspberry spritzer made with:
A cup of pepper, mushroom, tomatoes
When coking the oatmeal, do not add salt
DAY 4
BREAKFAST
A cup of skim milk
Half cup of rasp berry
A cup of oat meal
Half cup of fresh orange juices
LUNCH
Salad made with 4.5 ounces of grilled tuna:
Half cup of cherry tomatoes
A boiled egg
Two cups of green salad
Two teaspoon of low fat dressing
DINNER
A cup of brown rice Pork about three ounces filled with a cup mixed vegetable
A medium banana
A cup of low fat yogurt
Half cup of canned pears
DAY 5
BREAKFAST
Half cup of fresh orange juices
Half cup of baked beans
Two boiled eggs
Two slices of turkey bacon
Two slices of whole wheat toast
Half cup of cherry tomatoes
LUNCH
Half cup of green salad
Half cup cherry tomatoes
1 table of low fat mayonnaise
Two slices of whole wheat toast
1.5 ounces of low fat cheese
DINNER
Spaghetti and meal ball with a cup of four ounces spaghetti and minced turkey
A cup of fruit salad
A cup of medium apple
DAY 6
BREAKFAST
One medium banana
Two teaspoon of mixed seeds
Half cup of fresh orange juices
Two slices of whole wheat toast with two teaspoons of peanut butter
LUNCH
A cup of couscous
Three ounces of grilled chicken
A cup of roasted vegetable
DINNER
Half lentils cup
Three ounces of pork steak
A cup of ratatouille
1.5 ounces of low fat cheese
A cup of brown rice A medium apple
A cup of low fat yogurt
Half cup of mixed berry
Low fat chocolate pudding
DAY 7
BREAKFAST
A cup of skim milk
A cup of oatmeal
Half cup of fresh orange juices
Half cup of blueberries
LUNCH
Four whole grain crackers
One tea spoon of mayonnaise
Half table spoon of seed
Two cups of green salad
Half cup of cherry tomatoes
Chicken salad made with three ounces of lean chicken breast
DINNER
One banana
Half cup of almond
Three ounces of roasted beef
A medium pear
Half cup of broccoli
A cup of boiled potatoes
Half cup of green peas
To getting an adequate food nutrients for this meal, take your meal with lots of vegetables, fruits and protein source, this makes your meal healthy.