The word ‘diet’ usually makes us think of weight loss, but special diets are also necessary for various medical conditions. It’s also true that they typically get you to lose some weight. Let’s see if that’s the case with the DASH diet.
Read along to find out what the DASH diet means, why it was created, and whether it’s a good plan if you have no medical problems and you just want to drop some weight.
What Is the DASH Diet?
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, an eating plan designed to help reduce or prevent high blood pressure. It lowers sodium, saturated fats, and sugar levels, leading to a healthy lifestyle that brings significant benefits.
Why was the DASH diet developed?
Hypertension is one of the most common health issues nowadays, along with high cholesterol. And it’s well known that these two factors, especially when combined, can lead to severe problems like a heart attack or stroke.
That’s why, in the 90s, the American Heart Association presented DASH as a strategy to help people keep their blood pressure under control. The goal was to reduce the number of heart-related incidents by creating a dedicated diet plan that can be sustained long-term.
Read along to find out how the DASH diet works and what you can expect.
Health Benefits
Lowering blood pressure is the main health benefit of this dietary approach and the whole reason it was created in the first place.
But apart from that, it can also bring additional benefits:
- It can lower the risk of heart disease
- It can help you prevent type 2 diabetes
- Reduces the incidence of metabolic syndrome, even for children and adolescents
- Lowers the risk of some types of cancer, like colorectal and breast cancer
- It may also help you lose weight
How Much Salt Should You Eat?
Salt may make your food taste better, but adding too much causes serious health risks. But what does ‘too much’ mean?
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the recommended daily sodium intake should be less than 2,300 mg a day, and that’s the level provided by the DASH eating plan. Without a special diet, people usually consume about 3,400 mg of sodium per day, way more than the safe level.
A more restrictive version of this diet reduces the sodium intake to 1,500 mg per day. That’s helpful if you need a more drastic approach to your blood pressure issues.
‼️ The best way to determine exactly how much salt to use in your daily meals considering your health situation, is to ask your doctor.
How Do I Start the DASH Diet?
The DASH diet guidelines aren’t hard to follow. Even so, the change can be a bit tricky. To make it less uncomfortable, you can make the transition gradually.
To get ready to try this eating plan, first get the DASH diet food list to see what new additions you need and what foods or snacks you must give up to reduce your sodium intake. Then, make a few changes to help you adjust to the new lifestyle:
- Eat more vegetables at lunch or dinner
- Replace your usual snack with fruits or nuts
- Use half the butter and dressings you ate before
- Replace your full dairy products with low-fat versions
- Try not to have meat at every meal
- Make a habit of checking the sodium level on food labels when shopping
These baby steps can be a trial period or a DASH diet for beginners. It can be harder and more frustrating if you don’t make the transition gradually. And the risk of giving up and returning to your previous eating habits is higher.
DASH Eating Plan
The guidelines for this diet recommend certain food groups and the ideal number of servings per day.
Remember, the primary goal of this eating plan is to lower blood pressure, not to maximize weight loss.
You can use the printable DASH diet plan below to get a general idea of what you should include in your menus. It’s created and recommended by the Vermont Department of Health for 1,800 calories per day.
Now let’s take a concrete example. Here’s what a typical DASH diet breakfast would look like:
This breakfast idea is part of a 1-week DASH eating plan developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. You can check the whole plan here and make your own list of DASH foods you can easily include in your new eating strategy.
What not to eat on the DASH diet
An essential part of the DASH diet guidelines is the list of off-limits foods.
Here is what you must avoid altogether:
- Foods that contain added salt
- Alcohol
- Sugar-sweetened beverages
- Foods with lots of saturated fats
- Packaged snacks
The last item on the list would add unwanted salt, sugar, and fat and sabotage your journey toward normal blood pressure. Instead, you can turn to DASH diet snacks like:
- Fruits. If not fresh, canned in their own juice, with no sugar. Dried fruits are another good option
- Raisins
- Nuts (no salt)
- Raw vegetables
- Peanut butter
- Unsalted popcorn
- Low-fat yogurt
Are There Any Risks or Issues?
Despite having essential health benefits, this eating plan may also have some disadvantages.
First, it can be quite challenging if you’re not used to planning meals and cooking at home. Since you must follow the list of allowed ingredients, you must handle the shopping, preparing the meals, and planning your menus daily.
Still, it’s just a minor inconvenience, considering the benefits you get from improving your eating habits using this method.
Then, there are some unclear aspects. For example, cereals and yogurt are allowed but aren’t always healthy. So you need to make sure the cereals you pick don’t have sugar and that the yogurt is rich in calcium and vitamin D – not all of them have the same percentages.
If you have food allergies or are lactose intolerant, you must adjust this eating plan a bit to make it safe.
Also, if your previous daily menus didn’t include a lot of fiber, you may feel bloated after starting the DASH diet since you will be eating more fruits and vegetables. But once your organism adjusts, this inconvenience should disappear.
Additional Ways of Reducing Sodium
If your hypertension is serious and you need to make significant changes as soon as possible, you may need an even more drastic approach.
Here are some extra methods you can use to reduce your sodium intake even more:
- When cooking, replace salt with spices that don’t contain any sodium
- Don’t add salt when you cook pasta and rice
- Don’t use canned vegetables that contain salt
- Carefully read the labels. If a no-salt version isn’t available, at least find a low-sodium option
- Go for skinless chicken, turkey, fish, and lean meat
However, be prepared for your food to have a different taste. Salt can be quite addictive. But if you power through, you will adjust to the new flavors in no time and even grow to love them.
How to Stick to Your DASH Diet When Eating Out
Eating out is challenging on any diet. But if it’s a health-related eating plan, it’s even more challenging.
When you’re merely trying to lose weight, you can afford a cheat meal when eating out. It may actually be a good idea because long-term deprivation leads to frustration and affects your weight loss.
But if your diet is helping you keep your health issues under control, you must avoid cheating as well as you can.
If you’re using the DASH diet to manage your blood pressure, here’s what you can do when eating out:
- Ask for no added salt
- Carefully read the nutritional information, if available
- Instead of fried, get your meat grilled, broiled, or steamed
- Make sure your sides are healthy, and avoid dressings
- Stay away from anything smoked or pickled
- Choose smaller portions
- Avoid alcohol
Generally, if you want to eat out, avoid fast food places. Restaurants are much more likely to provide you with healthier alternatives and more nutritional information.
Which Is Better? The DASH Diet or the Mediterranean Diet?
The answer depends on what you want to achieve following them.
Both the Mediterranean and the DASH diets aim towards a healthy and balanced lifestyle. If your goal is to lose weight, the Mediterranean eating plan is excellent. But if you need a nutritional strategy for lowering your blood pressure, the DASH diet is much better, as it reduces your sodium intake significantly.
Mediterranean recipes are mainly based on seafood, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, herbs, spices, and yogurt. While healthy, not all these can clearly impact your hypertension.
Is the DASH Diet Good for Weight Loss?
The DASH diet can help you lose some weight, but the result won’t be impressive. This eating plan was specifically designed to reduce blood pressure by cutting down on sodium. And it manages to do that successfully. Weight loss is a happy side effect, so you cannot expect it to be significant.
Using the DASH diet for weight loss is not the best option if you don’t have hypertension; other strategies can bring you much better results. Autophagy can be a great plan, for example.
This article tells you what you need to know: Autophagy – the Secret for Healthy and Efficient Weight Loss
So if the question is ‘does the DASH diet work?’, the answer depends on how you need it to work.
FAQs
Is the DASH diet good for diabetics?
Although developed to reduce blood pressure, the DASH diet is also a sustainable eating plan for people with diabetes. It can help improve insulin sensitivity but can also reduce high cholesterol and aid in weight loss.
So you can also use this eating plan to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes by handling the factors that can lead to this condition. In addition, research has concluded that the DASH eating plan is also a good option for reversing prediabetes.
Can I mix the DASH diet with intermittent fasting?
The DASH eating plan is not exactly a weight loss diet but a healthy lifestyle that can prevent and treat health issues. But if you combine it with intermittent fasting, it becomes a great way to slim down.
Restricting your eating to a particular time interval every day already helps you lose weight. If the food you eat during that time is healthy and low in sodium, as the DASH diet demands, the impact on your weight will be even stronger.
And you won’t place your health or energy at risk.
Is the DASH diet hard to follow?
The DASH eating plan is easy to follow compared with more restrictive diets. It doesn’t make entire food groups off-limits, so your menus can be quite varied. It shouldn’t be a big challenge if you are used to planning your meals and cooking.
Once you adjust to the low sodium and to using herbs and spices instead of salt, it can become your new lifestyle.
Can I drink coffee and alcohol on the DASH diet?
You can drink coffee, but it’s preferable not to add sugar or sweeteners. The guidelines mention you need to avoid sweet beverages. Also, if you want to make it a latte, make sure to use low-fat milk.
Alcohol is also permitted as long as you consume it in moderation. However, to get the best results from the DASH diet, it’s better to avoid alcohol and only have it occasionally. If you can exclude it altogether, all the better.
Written by Mia Davis