The DASH Diet Wins Again

The Dash Diet has been voted the best overall diet by all the diet publications for several years in a row. Your doctor will love you if you can stick to this diet.

One of the steps your doctor may recommend to lower your high blood pressure is to start using the DASH diet. Let's face it, if your overweight, you have high blood pressure. You might not even know it. You don't necessarily have to be overweight to have high blood pressure, but if you aren't following a healthy diet plan, you are probably consuming too much sodium and that will cause high blood pressure.

DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The diet is simple:

• Eat more fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods
• Cut back on foods that are high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and trans fats
• Eat more whole-grain foods, fish, poultry, and nuts
• Limit sodium, sweets, sugary drinks, and red meats

In research studies, people who were on the DASH diet lowered their blood pressure within 2 weeks.

Another diet -- DASH-Sodium -- calls for cutting back sodium to 1,500 milligrams a day (about 2/3 teaspoon). Studies of people on the DASH-Sodium plan lowered their blood pressure as well.

Starting the DASH Diet

The DASH diet calls for a certain number of servings daily from various food groups. The number of servings you require may vary, depending on how many calories you need per day.

You can make gradual changes. For instance, start by limiting yourself to 2,400 milligrams of sodium per day (about 1 teaspoon). Then, once your body has adjusted to the diet, cut back to 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day (about 2/3 teaspoon). These amounts include all sodium eaten, including sodium in food products as well as in what you cook with or add to the table.

Dash Diet Tips

• Add a serving of vegetables at lunch and at dinner.
• Add a serving of fruit to your meals or as a snack. Canned and dried fruits are easy to use, but check that they don't have added sugar.
• Use only half your typical serving of butter, margarine, or salad dressing, and use low-sugar, low-fat or fat-free condiments.
• Drink low-fat or skim dairy products any time you would normally use full-fat or cream.
• Limit meat to 6 ounces a day. Make some meals vegetarian.
• Add more vegetables and dry beans to your diet.
• Instead of snacking on chips or sweets, eat unsalted pretzels or nuts, raisins, low-fat and fat-free yogurt, frozen yogurt, unsalted plain popcorn with no butter, and raw vegetables.
• Read food labels to choose products that are lower in sodium.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.