DASH Diet thread

zeejane03
zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
edited December 19 in Food and Nutrition
There's a couple of us (maybe more?) who are interested in experimenting with the NIH's DASH diet protocol. This thread is for us to chat and keep track of our stuff :) Feel free to join in!

All the information for DASH can be found on the NIH website, including the plan's outline for different calorie targets
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/dash-eating-plan

Review of the DASH diet
https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/dash-diet

Nutrition Wonk's first podcast about DASH
https://www.thenutritionwonk.com/single-post/2018/12/30/n1-Episode-3-Whats-the-DASH-Diet
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Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Posting to follow. It is not a good time for me to be focusing too much on my diet right now, but I have in the back of my mind to start slowly following either this or the Mayo Mediterranean approach, so I'm curious. Have fun!
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Posting to follow. It is not a good time for me to be focusing too much on my diet right now, but I have in the back of my mind to start slowly following either this or the Mayo Mediterranean approach, so I'm curious. Have fun!

    Feel free to jump in anytime, it's going to be a pretty casual experiment :)
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Checking in to note that I've seen this and will be back later. I can't seem to get back into logging consistently and am hoping that doing this experiment with DASH will help me since I will be tracking servings of various foods.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited January 2019
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Checking in to note that I've seen this and will be back later. I can't seem to get back into logging consistently and am hoping that doing this experiment with DASH will help me since I will be tracking servings of various foods.

    Yeah I'm very 'loosey goosey' with tracking too-I get bored with it really fast :p For this experiment what I did was write down the recommended daily servings of each category based on my calorie goal (pretty much what I posted above), and put it in a word doc. Throughout the day as I eat I'm just jotting down how many servings of each category I'm eating-so not writing out a full food diary. This will keep it simple for me and hopefully I'll be more prone to stick with it for a while.

    I'm going by the DASH serving size guide, which has already thrown me off a bit-I eat fish 3 times a week and I always use frozen fish that comes in 4oz pieces. Since the DASH serving size is 3oz I actually had to trim an ounce off of my salmon before cooking it today, which felt really weird lol.

    Vegetables and fruit is going to be another issue since I eat a lot of veggies but not as much fruit. Wondering if these are interchangeable?

    eta: I'm not going to track sodium right now, I don't usually add salt to anything and the foods I'll be eating will be lower salt for the most part. My blood pressure tends towards the low side anyways, so it's not a concern for me at this point.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited January 2019
    Salad looks great!

    I think I'm starting for real Monday so I can plan a bit about what I'm doing, but I'll check in with food choice over the weekend (will be too meat heavy, though, since I have leftovers to eat up).

    As noted I'm trying the higher fat version (in part because I've never been able to manage 55% carbs and eat grains pretty rarely now, so this will be an easier adjustment).

    https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/103/2/341/4564756

    http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-eating/nutrition/article/tweaking-dash-diet

    Recommended Servings

    Grains: 5 a day (serving is only 28 g, but I am going to be lenient about being able to sub beans/lentils/peas for grains unless my targets as discussed below are way off)
    Vegetables: 5 servings a day (I am going to keep trying for my 10+ of fruit and veg)
    Fruit: 1.5 a day
    Low fat dairy: none
    Full fat dairy: 2.5 cups a day
    Lean meats & fish: 3-4 oz a day (but averaged over a week)
    Nuts, seeds, and legumes: 2.5 oz a day (this seems high, but the study said 2 oz/day for standard DASH also, which seems inconsistent with the usual servings given)
    Fats seemed to be just a total number.
    Sweets/added sugars: again just a total number of 11.2 g per week
    Sodium: 2,300 mg/day

    I couldn't find a better breakdown so tried to cobble this together from the study.

    Macros about 40% carbs, 40% fat, 20% protein.

    In theory the targets would be:

    Potassium, mg 4700 -- my goal at Cron anyway
    Magnesium, mg 465
    Calcium, mg 1325
    Fiber, g 40+
    Total sugar,2 g 90-95 g
    Sat fat 15g or less

    Says nothing about eggs which is interesting. I usually eat about 12 eggs a week, but may need to change up breakfast to oats + 1 egg.
  • weightgoesbyebye
    weightgoesbyebye Posts: 54 Member
    I think one egg is 1 ounce and 2 egg whites is 1 ounce.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited January 2019
    weightgoesbyebye wrote: »
    I think one egg is 1 ounce and 2 egg whites is 1 ounce.

    Large eggs are about 2 oz, but here there's nothing about eggs at all, unless I'm just being blind.

    https://www.thekitchn.com/medium-large-jumbo-how-egg-sizes-actually-measure-up-ingredient-intelligence-200891

    This is interesting: https://medium.com/@erinfrey/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-dash-diet-e261870bef0b
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    weightgoesbyebye wrote: »
    I think one egg is 1 ounce and 2 egg whites is 1 ounce.

    Large eggs are about 2 oz, but here there's nothing about eggs at all, unless I'm just being blind.

    https://www.thekitchn.com/medium-large-jumbo-how-egg-sizes-actually-measure-up-ingredient-intelligence-200891

    This is interesting: https://medium.com/@erinfrey/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-dash-diet-e261870bef0b

    1 egg is considered 1oz of the protein category, I believe, its listed on the NIH site, under the section that explains what servings looks like (I'm on my phone so it's hard for me to pull it up right now but I'll double check tomorrow).
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited January 2019
    I said I wasn't going to count calories, but did some mental math and even estimating high for the salad/dressing, I was only at around 1,200 calories for today, so I added an evening snack of light cheese spread and multi-grain crisps. I can't edit my tally post for today, but the snack gave me 1 more serving of grains and of dairy, so I actually hit the recommended targets for those two categories. This is kind of fun :)

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    weightgoesbyebye wrote: »
    I think one egg is 1 ounce and 2 egg whites is 1 ounce.

    Large eggs are about 2 oz, but here there's nothing about eggs at all, unless I'm just being blind.

    https://www.thekitchn.com/medium-large-jumbo-how-egg-sizes-actually-measure-up-ingredient-intelligence-200891

    This is interesting: https://medium.com/@erinfrey/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-dash-diet-e261870bef0b

    1 egg is considered 1oz of the protein category, I believe, its listed on the NIH site, under the section that explains what servings looks like (I'm on my phone so it's hard for me to pull it up right now but I'll double check tomorrow).

    Yes, you are right. Here's a link: https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/dash-eating-plan
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    I'll still be following the guidelines on the weekends but won't be posting my daily updates, too hectic around here lol. Cleaning my house right now for my kids battle of the books team meeting (I'm the coach), and then everyone is staying for supper whew!
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited January 2019
    We got dumped with snow (which means shoveling), and I've been inspired by Tidying Up to try to declutter (currently going through clothes), so I'm glad I have a ton of leftovers. Will likely have to work tomorrow.

    Going to try to figure out my instapot over the weekend, though. And plan my menu for the upcoming week.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited January 2019
    -7 below here this morning and I have to go grocery shopping, yuck :p Store is doing a canned goods sale this week so I'm stocking up on beans. At some point I may venture into soaking my own, but for .59 a can I don't know that it would really save me any money?

    I also learned yesterday that you can freeze spinach, so I'm going to pick up a couple bags (sale with a coupon match). I use it frequently in my green smoothies so it's good to always have extra on hand. I did a bag last night that I had, that was getting close to its expiration date. From what I read you don't have to mess with blanching it if you're using it within a couple months so it was very easy to prep/freeze.

    On the DASH front-I tweaked my tracking method and I copy/pasted my above log several times on a sheet of paper (a weeks worth of tracking), printed it out and put it on my fridge. As I make my food I'll tick off the servings and then tally them here :)
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited January 2019
    1/21 (today's weight: 138.6lbs)

    Recommended Servings & Today's Totals
    Grains 5-6 servings : 3
    Vegetables 3-4 servings : 5
    Fruit 4 servings: 2
    Low fat dairy 3-4 servings: 3
    Lean meats & fish 3oz or less: 4oz (salmon)
    Nuts, seeds, and legumes 3 servings a week: 2/3 [servings of beans, use as a protein source]
    Fats and oils 1 serving: 1 (olives)
    Sweets/added sugars 3 servings or less per week: 0/3
    OTHER/not categorized: a serving of fat free Italian dressing and a serving of fat free Catalina dressing
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    I took today off counting again, but am going to start tomorrow.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited January 2019
    Took a look at Canada's updated food guide today and it lines up nicely with what DASH recommends. Think we're going to see the DASH model being promoted more and more (WHO seems to be going in this directions as well)-
    https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    Took a look at Canada's updated food guide today and it lines up nicely with what DASH recommends. Think we're going to see the DASH model being promoted more and more (WHO seems to be going in this directions as well)-
    https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/

    Makes sense. It's a pretty good model all in all.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    1/22

    Recommended Servings & Today's Totals
    Grains 5-6 servings : 4
    Vegetables 3-4 servings : 7
    Fruit 4 servings: 2
    Low fat dairy 3-4 servings: 2
    Lean meats & fish 3oz or less: x
    Nuts, seeds, and legumes 3 servings a week: 3/3 [I use beans as a protein source]
    Fats and oils 1 serving: 1
    Sweets/added sugars 3 servings or less per week: 1/3
    OTHER/not categorized: x
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    No dinner yet, but I'm actually tracking today.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited January 2019
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    No dinner yet, but I'm actually tracking today.

    I'm curious to see how it goes for you :) I'm trying to figure out how to fit in all their daily/weekly serving recommendations, while still staying within the calorie target (for me it's the 1,400 calorie range). Doing the math if I eat all the servings they recommend I will go over 1,400 calories? Thinking about adjusting the servings down to their 1,200 calorie servings recommendations and seeing if that's closer to 1,400? Today I still came in short on grains, didn't have any meat etc and I'm just over 1,400 calories.

  • kerrifee10
    kerrifee10 Posts: 3 Member
    I am just starting DASH. I started posting what I eat on here lately also. I am trying to reduce BP, Cholesterol and lose about 15 pounds. I am so confused on the fat issue. I know what good fats are, but full fat dairy recommended now confuses me on total fat intake. Any ideas?
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited January 2019
    kerrifee10 wrote: »
    I am just starting DASH. I started posting what I eat on here lately also. I am trying to reduce BP, Cholesterol and lose about 15 pounds. I am so confused on the fat issue. I know what good fats are, but full fat dairy recommended now confuses me on total fat intake. Any ideas?

    I'm going by the DASH fat suggestions, 1 serving a day (for my calorie range) from-

    1 tsp soft margarine
    1 tsp vegetable oil (canola, corn, olive, safflower)
    1 Tbsp mayonnaise
    2 Tbsp low fat salad dressing or 1 tbsp full fat dressing
    Fat content changes the serving amount for fats and oils. For example, 1 Tbsp regular salad dressing = one serving; 1 Tbsp low-fat dressing = one-half serving; 1 Tbsp fat-free dressing = zero servings.

    As for dairy, DASH recommends fat free or low fat dairy.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    No dinner yet, but I'm actually tracking today.

    I'm curious to see how it goes for you :) I'm trying to figure out how to fit in all their daily/weekly serving recommendations, while still staying within the calorie target (for me it's the 1,400 calorie range). Doing the math if I eat all the servings they recommend I will go over 1,400 calories? Thinking about adjusting the servings down to their 1,200 calorie servings recommendations and seeing if that's closer to 1,400? Today I still came in short on grains, didn't have any meat etc and I'm just over 1,400 calories.

    I'm logging too, to get a sense of macros and calories. I would prefer to track over the week, as it's easier for me to have more meat on some days and none on several.

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    The higher fat DASH option (which they talked about on n=1 too, I need to relisten) replaces the lowfat skim dairy with full fat.

    Recommended Servings

    Grains: 5 a day (serving is only 28 g, but I am going to be lenient about being able to sub beans/lentils/peas for grains unless my targets as discussed below are way off) -- 2 servings, oats and quinoa (grains is going to be tough for me, as I'm not a huge fan and feel like they are a waste of calories)

    Vegetables: 5 servings a day (I am going to keep trying for my 10+ of fruit and veg) -- 11 today, although less varied than usual -- 2 servings of carrots, 1 of onions/scallions (combined), 2 of zucchini, 2 of bok choy, 2 of tomatoes, 1 of cauliflower, serving (I think) of artichoke hearts.

    Fruit: 1.5 a day -- serving of avocado and one of raspberries

    Full fat dairy: 2.5 cups a day -- only 1, half a cup of cottage cheese + half a cup of milk

    Lean meats & fish: 3-4 oz a day (but averaged over a week) -- 6 oz (mainly because I got home late and so had leftovers that I'd intended to have tomorrow, instead of making a bean-based dish or even an omelet) -- this will get easier when I have some more preplanned meals on hand

    Nuts, seeds, and legumes: 2.5 oz a day (this seems high, but the study said 2 oz/day for standard DASH also, which seems inconsistent with the usual servings given) -- still confused about this, but 1 oz of nuts

    I'm disorganized right now, but will get in the groove.

    Overall:

    Cals on the low side (I was a little hungry before dinner, makes sense, but I also ate at 9:30)

    37% fat, 28% protein (grams were plenty), 39% carbs -- numbers don't add up, will have to see what's up. Logging at Cron and doing the math. Fiber is 39 g, not bad for no beans.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Hmmm... reading Lemurcat's posts, it seems like I eat like the higher fat DASH. Loosely. Possibly not with the sodium, but I need it since a medication I'm on gives me issues with blood sodium.

    I am cutting back on dairy currently, though. I've cut back to 1 1/2 cups a day.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    Thanks for sharing lemurcat-I'm also struggling with the grains category, which has surprised me. I thought I ate more of them than I actually do? I'm also torn with what to do with those pesky beans lol. I eat 1-2 servings a day, as a protein source, so that's skewing my 'nuts, seeds and legumes' column.

    Since I'm in a short weight loss phase right now I'm going to keep the low fat dairy, but with only 8ish pounds to go, I'll be wrapping it up in the next few weeks and then I plan on switching over to full fat dairy.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited January 2019
    The serving thing is driving me crazy. Since we did a 10+ veg and fruit challenge, I'm used to counting those servings (although the UK way, which I assume is roughly equivalent), but everything else I have to keep checking what a serving is, and am not 100% sure I'm doing it right with grains.

    For eating less meat I tend to eat more beans (especially if eggs basically count as meat), and I like beans more than grains, so I'm going to freely sub beans for grains if I want. I'll do more reading to see if there's really any particular reason to eat so many grains. My suspicion is that it could be like the old food pyramid somewhat where they are cheap, faster to prepare than beans, and telling someone to eat more whole grains vs. refined is seen as an easier change that is also a good one than getting them to eat more veg or even beans. But since I already eat lots of veg and more beans/lentils, I'm not convinced there's a reason for all the grains. (I'd also sub tubers for grains unless there's some reason not to.)

    I started re-listening to that podcast and might download a book that talks about the theory more.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Are you
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    Thanks for sharing lemurcat-I'm also struggling with the grains category, which has surprised me. I thought I ate more of them than I actually do? I'm also torn with what to do with those pesky beans lol. I eat 1-2 servings a day, as a protein source, so that's skewing my 'nuts, seeds and legumes' column.

    Since I'm in a short weight loss phase right now I'm going to keep the low fat dairy, but with only 8ish pounds to go, I'll be wrapping it up in the next few weeks and then I plan on switching over to full fat dairy.

    Curious: are you two following the original book or the DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution?
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