DASH “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension”: As its name suggests, dash diet was created to stop hypertension, fight against heart failure, and in addition to lower your weight through a strict diet. High blood pressure is a frequent disorder. It was introduced in 1990 and was voted best diet of the year 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 by the American magazine US News World Report.
To prevent hypertension, it is recommended:
- No Smoking
- Limit Alcohol Consumption
- Have Regular Physical Activity
- Eat Healthily
- Follow an Eating Plan
The Dash diet is all about eating a healthy, regular diet and eating in a balanced way. The Dash diet also fights cholesterol levels and can lower them if you follow strict rules.
WHO IS THE DASH DIET FOR?
This diet can be adapted to everyone and without especially social constraints because we can eat anything. The first people targeted remain those with high blood pressure, but this diet has been proven to have an impact on cholesterol and weight. Indeed, by filling up on fiber and reducing fats and sugar, we learn to eat again and that is reflected in our metabolism.
Rules of the Dash Diet Meal Plan:
The rules of the Dash diet are simple; adopt a balanced, varied and healthy diet. To follow these rules, we suggest: that you eat foods that are enriched with calcium, magnesium, potassium and fiber and not reduce eating foods containing saturated fat.
Dash Diet Food List
The foods suggested by the DASH diet are as follows:
RECOMMENDED FOODS
- The Fruits
- The Vegetables ;
- Skimmed or semi-skimmed dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurts, butter, cream);
- Whole Grains (bread, rice, pasta, quinoa, etc.);
- Fish ;
- Lean Meat and Poultry;
- Legumes;
- Seeds and Dried and Nuts;
- The Fat added in Small Amounts (rapeseed oil, nuts or olive oil, butter and margarine).
PROHIBITED FOODS
Among the foods and drinks that are not recommended, we find:
- Foods rich in sodium (bouillon cubes, cold meats, etc.);
- Foods and drinks rich in sugars (flavored yoghurts, sweets, sweetened drinks, etc.);
- The alcohol ;
- Foods high in saturated fat (ready meals, fried foods, fast food, etc.);
- Red meats.
In summary, the dietary approach of the dash diet is established according to its rules:
- Favor dairy foods that are the lowest in fat.
- Eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Eat fish, poultry and nuts.
- Avoid red meats.
- Avoid sweets.
- Do not consume more than 2300 mg of salt per day.
Dash Diet Meal Plan
Here is an example of a dash diet type menu for a demand of 2000 calories / day. You can then make all the dash diet recipes you want with this information!
| Food | Of daily servings | Portion size |
| Vegetables | 4 to 5 | 1/2 glass of tomato juice, 1 bowl of raw vegetables or 75 gr, 1/2 bowl of cooked vegetables or 50 gr. |
| Fruits | 4 to 5 | 1 fruit or 75 of cooked fruit, 1/2 of fruit juice, 1/4 of a glass of dried fruit. |
| Dried fruits, nuts, seeds | 4 to 5 per week | 1/3 glass of walnuts. |
| Food | Of daily servings | Portion size |
| Lean meat, fish, poultry | 5 | 1 egg30 gr of lean meatfish or poultry |
| Dairy products, low in fat | 2 to 3 | 1 natural yogurt200 ml of skimmed milk30 gr of low / low-fat cheese. |
| Cereals | 6 to 8 | 1 slice of bread or 40 gr.1 glass of rice or pasta or 100 gr.30 gr of cereals (breakfast) |
| Sweets | 4 to 5 per week | Jam.1 spoon of sugar.1 glass of syrup, soft drink, soda without sugar. |
| Fat | Limit to the maximum | Butter, margarine, oil |
Working of Dash Diet
The principle of the DASH diet is based on various rules.
- Consume fruits, fresh vegetables, poultry, fish and nuts.
- In addition, the method recommends a diet rich in fiber, calcium, potassium and magnesium.
- Conversely, the richest sweets, red meats and dairy products should be avoided. Indeed, fat must be removed and a diet without added fat is recommended.
- Finally, salt should be limited to 2300 mg per day. In addition, there are three energy levels. Women wishing to lower their blood pressure are entitled to 2,000 kcal per day, 1,600 kcal if they want to lose extra pounds. With regard to men, it should be limited to 2,600 kcal to reduce blood pressure and 2,000 kcal to lose weight in addition.
Effectiveness of Dash Diet:
With the DASH diet, it is possible to prevent hypertension and reduce blood pressure in people with high blood pressure.
This is because:
The diet rich in hypotensive drugs such as potassium, magnesium, fiber … Moreover, apart from hypertension, the DASH method is also effective in eliminating extra pounds. The results vary according to the person, their age, their physical activity, their attendance and their respect for the rules established by the plan. This loss is logical because the method is extremely controlled in terms of fats and sugars. Finally, very low in fat and rich in fiber, this diet lowers bad cholesterol.
The Advantages of the Dash Diet
The DASH diet is perfect as part of a dietary rebalancing.
Tired of junk food and ready-made meals?
This is the diet you should get started on. More than a way to lose weight, it is above all a way of relearning to eat correctly and healthily. It is not binding because the issues of health and well-being take precedence over the importance of losing weight. Add to that a regular sporting practice and voila.
The Disadvantages of the DASH Diet:
The DASH diet requires you to cook without fat: it is therefore deficient in omega-3 and omega 6. In addition, without any fat, food is less creamy and tasty than when it is cooked with fat.
It can therefore be difficult to follow this diet.
Because:
It inhibits taste pleasure. Likewise, virtually eliminating sugary products can be difficult to maintain over time.
