DASH Diet thread

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  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    Detailed nutrition? Or specific nutrients? Or DASH servings?

    Here I would use recipe builder.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
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    Fruit 4
    Veggie 5
    Whole grain 2
    Dairy 1
    Meat 4
    Added sugar yes

  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited February 2019
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    Tonight we're going to our church's Sweetheart Valentines dinner and it will be a very calorie dense meal-cheesy mashed potatoes, chicken Alfredo, seasoned veggies (I'm sure they'll be prepared with some sort of oil), salad and then dessert. Rest of the day will be on track though, with no other Valentines 'extras'.

  • margbarco
    margbarco Posts: 128 Member
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    zeejane03 wrote: »
    margbarco wrote: »
    Can anybody elaborate as to why the emphasis on whole grains? I understand that whole grain foods are preferable to refined white flour foods, so is this the reason? To swap out refined carbs for whole food choices? Is it for the fiber? Is it the enrichment with micronutrients like iron?

    I ask because when I started tracking on mfp I cut out white carbs and have not missed not eating pasta, bread, cookies, etc. I’m afraid if I start to incorporate whole grain products it’ll become a slippery slope for me. I do better with abstaining rather than moderating.

    But if there’s something specific about whole grains that’s important for heart health, I’d like to understand and include these foods.

    Thank you!

    I believe it's mostly because of the fiber?

    That would match up with the new findings out from WHO, about a diet higher in fiber may having better outcomes in certain diseases prevention

    https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31809-9/fulltext

    I just looked up the nutrition of a slice of regular white bread (Wonder bread brand) and compared it to the whole grains bread I eat. They both have 70 calories per slice, however my bread has more fiber and protein. When you're trying to get in 30 grams or more of fiber, every bit helps :)

    I suspected it might be the fiber. Oftentimes I get very close to my goal of 50g without including any whole grains so that’s good. Thanks for your reply!
  • margbarco
    margbarco Posts: 128 Member
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    zeejane03 wrote: »
    Adding to my previous post-if things like bread and pasta aren't a good fit for you then definitely don't feel like you have to eat them! There's lots of other fiber rich options, like beans, lentils, other grains etc that you can add for the fiber.

    Today I tried one of those Minute-Made Medley grains cups (you put it in the microwave for 1 minute and it's good to go). It's a one cup serving (I mixed it with a bag of steamer veggies and teryaki sauce), the medley was 230 calories and 8g of fiber, 6g of protein. Plus some nice micros.

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/Minute-Ready-to-Serve-Multi-Grain-Rice-Medley-8-8-Ounce-Serving/20918329

    eta: the steamer bag of veggies also had around 8g of fiber in it.

    Thank you! In addition to the beans and lentils you mentioned (which I already include) I’ve added a serving of bran flakes every other day for the added iron- just got bloodwork done and I’m slightly anemic.
  • margbarco
    margbarco Posts: 128 Member
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    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    margbarco wrote: »
    Can anybody elaborate as to why the emphasis on whole grains? I understand that whole grain foods are preferable to refined white flour foods, so is this the reason? To swap out refined carbs for whole food choices? Is it for the fiber? Is it the enrichment with micronutrients like iron?

    I think a big part of it is that DASH is supposed to be a relatively easy change, and so they focus on swapping white for whole grains. Grains are also a common part of the US diet and whole grains have some fiber and protein (although not a whole lot).

    My personal view (and deviation from the guidelines) is that vegetables and beans/lentils are better sources of most of what is desired here (fiber, potassium, other micros) and beans have an added benefit of more protein, so I'm grouping my starches (beans/lentils, whole grains, tubers (note: potatoes are great for potassium), and pulses), and aiming to hit the "grains" goal using all of them together.

    My research didn't find anything particularly special about grains in and of themselves, so I haven't really bothered to increase them much (I am eating them a bit more).

    Agreed. Fruits, vegetables, and legumes allow me to hit my daily fiber goal. Now I have to eat a ton of fruits and veggies - but I’ve been enjoying this way of eating. I feel lighter after a meal and my overall calories have decreased. Thanks for your reply!
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
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    My Valentine treat in my lunchbox is a huge chocolate dipped strawberry. DASH inspired if you don’t think about the added sugar. 😉
  • trisH_7183
    trisH_7183 Posts: 1,486 Member
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    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Detailed nutrition? Or specific nutrients? Or DASH servings?

    Here I would use recipe builder.

    Was wondering about the DASH servings for whole Grains & fiber.......but will figure it out. I usually do it the old way with paper & pencil.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    Reporting in from yesterday (mixed results).

    Grains/beans/tubers/pulses: 2.5 (combination of lentils, chickpeas, and quinoa)
    Nuts: 0.5
    Fruit: 3.5
    Vegetables: about 11 servings
    Dairy: only 1 serving

    Nutrients I watch: 82 g protein, 40 g fiber, good omega 3 to 6, hit potassium and magnesium, only 79% on calcium -- making an effort to have more dairy today.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    trisH_7183 wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Detailed nutrition? Or specific nutrients? Or DASH servings?

    Here I would use recipe builder.

    Was wondering about the DASH servings for whole Grains & fiber.......but will figure it out. I usually do it the old way with paper & pencil.

    Whole grain servings are 1/2 cup cooked (1/4 cup raw), which is about 1 oz (28 g). So I'd just count up all the grains you include and divide by the number of servings. For fiber, if you log it you can see it -- if you aren't, make sure you have fiber showing in your 5 nutrients (protein, carbs, fat, and the 2 of your choice).
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
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    DASH inspired peanut butter banana sandwich on whole wheat bread with skim milk for dinner
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
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    Dinner was wonderful and ridiculously high calorie, though I did chose a more DASH compliant dessert option and got the chocolate covered strawberries instead of cake or fruit pastries. Finishing the night with a rum coffee, 98 calories of bliss, and it counts towards my potassium :D

  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
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    margbarco wrote: »
    Good news! BP this morning 110/63 :)

    I’m not sure if it’s the weight loss coupled with exercise and the DASH diet that brought my BP down, or if I never had elevated levels to begin with? The few borderline pressures at the doctors office over the years I always attributed to being nervous. In any case, I’m happy today!

    That is great news! Are you finding DASH easy to follow?
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    margbarco wrote: »
    Good news! BP this morning 110/63 :)

    I’m not sure if it’s the weight loss coupled with exercise and the DASH diet that brought my BP down, or if I never had elevated levels to begin with? The few borderline pressures at the doctors office over the years I always attributed to being nervous. In any case, I’m happy today!

    Yay!
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    Got talked into having kebobs for dinner (from a Persian restaurant), so did not log my dinner. Since I had shrimp for lunch and then salmon at dinner went way over my meat plans too, but not unhappy about it.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited February 2019
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    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Got talked into having kebobs for dinner (from a Persian restaurant), so did not log my dinner. Since I had shrimp for lunch and then salmon at dinner went way over my meat plans too, but not unhappy about it.

    Sounds like a tasty day :)

    Hubby just called and wants to use up some gift cards for supper (he did a side job a while back and got over $200 in gift cards to one restaurant that we've been slowly using up). I'll get the shrimp tacos (Flash fried rock shrimp, black bean-garlic puree, sesame dressed cabbage, sweet chili sauce, served on flour tortillas), and then we'll also split an appetizer, which will probably be cheese curds with different dipping sauces. Overall it fits pretty nicely with DASH, though a bit higher in calories.

    To compensate I had a green smoothie and whole grains toast/cheese late morning and will wait until supper to eat again (last night's dinner was very calorie dense so I'm definitely having a maintenance week this week).
  • margbarco
    margbarco Posts: 128 Member
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    emmamcgarity wrote: »
    margbarco wrote: »
    Good news! BP this morning 110/63 :)

    I’m not sure if it’s the weight loss coupled with exercise and the DASH diet that brought my BP down, or if I never had elevated levels to begin with? The few borderline pressures at the doctors office over the years I always attributed to being nervous. In any case, I’m happy today!

    That is great news! Are you finding DASH easy to follow?

    Yes! I’m finding it easy to follow... but... I’m not exactly counting the serving sizes precisely. Right now I’ve increased fruits and veggies, limited animal protein to 3-6 ounces per day, decreased sodium, and I’m monitoring my intake of calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

    I’m still not clear about the fats category but I’ve been making sure to eat all the heart healthy fats and to stay away from the bad fats.

    I will eventually make an effort to tally my serving sizes in all the categories on a daily basis and improve from there on.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited February 2019
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    margbarco wrote: »
    emmamcgarity wrote: »
    margbarco wrote: »
    Good news! BP this morning 110/63 :)

    I’m not sure if it’s the weight loss coupled with exercise and the DASH diet that brought my BP down, or if I never had elevated levels to begin with? The few borderline pressures at the doctors office over the years I always attributed to being nervous. In any case, I’m happy today!

    That is great news! Are you finding DASH easy to follow?

    Yes! I’m finding it easy to follow... but... I’m not exactly counting the serving sizes precisely. Right now I’ve increased fruits and veggies, limited animal protein to 3-6 ounces per day, decreased sodium, and I’m monitoring my intake of calcium, magnesium, and potassium.

    I’m still not clear about the fats category but I’ve been making sure to eat all the heart healthy fats and to stay away from the bad fats.

    I will eventually make an effort to tally my serving sizes in all the categories on a daily basis and improve from there on.

    Sounds like you're off to a great start! I'm also mostly focusing on increasing veg/fruit, reducing animal protein/using plant sources for protein like beans, and then starting to pay more attention to certain micros.

    It's a process that will take time :)

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