DASH Diet thread

carbos101

Great info/recipe ideas/thx. I'm not into cooking much at this point in time because of kitchen/house 'reconstruction' horror but I do cook legumes (pintos? need to do black beans prob healthier) at my Mom's kitchen maybe once a month and feel they're safe to eat for few days - I try to eat as healthy as possible - take out food - salads but cheat on the dressings so need to pay heed.

lemur cat - I'm wanting more oils in my food especially a lemon/olive oil (I mix) I sprinkle over bag'd Kale salads (I've reached a new low -- previously afraid to eat pre-washed/bagged salads) and can use my crock pot and Insta Pot (still in box) but into canned lentils quite yet. I need to try but do need to watch the fat and sugar to keep rockin' on here - get to the gym -- baby steps, etc. I've lost about 17 lbs. (one yr. and would go off the rails few times trying to starve myself/too old and would have to start all over w/calorie counting). I always had basic, clean eating habits especially my pre-protein/need for meat days. Always tried to limit meats -- even cheese products due to allergies. I'm now implementing dairy (cottage cheese - low fat and non-fat mixed) and Wasa bread with Laughing Cow Lite, Greek Oikos yogurt -- I mix the Lite & Fit flavored Greek yogurt in with it for flavor or squeeze fresh lemons. I need to carry on but w/holidays went south. I really need to get into fish (frozen/have to cook in microwave) or tuna - hope it's allowed on Dash. I'd prefer to go without meat other than special occasions but whole grains/starches and bites of tofu don't seem to keep me from feeling sick. I probably don't eat enough tofu (plain out of fridge when I feel sugar-sick) but will try today with cottage cheese and hope for the best. Nut calories really add up fast (oh my) so I'm going to weigh before devouring.

Appreciate everyone's expertise - especially easy/non-cooking/microwaveable foods. Much healthier to have cooktop/oven. Going to try GBEM's cauliflower recipe next time I use my Mom's kitchen - thanks/appreciate.

lemurcat2

I started the n=1 podcast's discussion of actually doing the DASH experiment (it's out, yay!), and Katherine said that she also struggled with the servings format and ended up using a spreadsheet she found and printed out. When looking around at that, I found this, which seems helpful and once again has slightly different amounts:

https://www.dummies.com/food-drink/special-diets/high-blood-pressure-diet/dash-diet-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/

Summarized:

Grains (6–8 daily servings), preferably whole. Examples of 1 serving of grains include 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of dry cereal, or 1/2 cup cooked cereal, pasta, rice, barley, or other grain.

Re: the above, my choice is to make it starches more broadly: grains/beans/lentils/peas/tubers. I'm also not doing that much, as this is based on a 2000 cal diet and I'm eating more like 1600 cal most days unless I'm extra active (weather and life has been meaning that my running is way off-track). And with the extra fat I need to cut cals somewhere too.

Fruits (4–5 daily servings): A serving of fruit may be a small to medium piece of fruit, 10 grapes, 1/2 grapefruit, 1/2 banana, or 2 tablespoons of raisins or other dried fruit.

Re: this, I'm pretty much aiming for it.

Vegetables (4–5 daily servings): A serving of vegetables comprises 1 cup of raw veggies or 1/2 cup cooked.

Re: this, my current pattern is to eat 10+ and I'm sticking to it.

Low-fat or nonfat dairy (2–3 daily servings): Limit your milk to skim or 1%, and primarily eat low-fat yogurt and cheese. To meet your 2 to 3 servings goal, drink two 1-cup servings of skim or 1% milk daily. Or, as 1 serving, have a snack of 8 ounces of low-fat Greek yogurt. Eating 1 ounce of low-fat or nonfat cheese also counts as a serving. To cut the fat even more, use low-fat yogurt in place of sour cream in your recipes.

Re the above, I'll note again that I am doing the higher fat version, so including full-fat dairy.

Lean meats, fish, and poultry (2 or fewer daily servings): Limit the total amount of lean protein to no more than 6 to 8 ounces. Examples of the recommended foods in this category include fresh chicken breast or legs, fresh turkey breast, loin cuts of beef, sirloin, round steak, extra-lean ground beef, pork loin roast, pork tenderloin, fresh fish, and low-sodium canned tuna.

Re: this, it's more than the other recommendations and more consistent with what I've been doing, although next week I'm going to have more lower or no meat days. Last couple days I've at least been having shrimp and fish.

Nuts and seeds (4–5 weekly servings): A serving of nuts is about 1/3 cup (make sure they’re unsalted) or 2 tablespoons of nut butter (like peanut or almond). A healthy serving size of unsalted seeds, such as sunflower seeds, is 2 tablespoons.

Here I've basically been aiming for a serving a day and will stick with that if calories are okay.

Healthy fats (2-3 daily servings): Generally, a teaspoon of oil or a tablespoon of salad dressing or spread is a 1-serving equivalent. Check the Nutrition Facts label to determine the serving size for food products under this umbrella.

I thought my fat usage was too high, but under this it's not too bad, as I've been having around a tbsp of olive oil per day. I'm also less concerned since I'm not doing it as a low fat way of eating.

lemurcat2

carbos101 wrote: »

Great info/recipe ideas/thx. I'm not into cooking much at this point in time because of kitchen/house 'reconstruction' horror

I feel for you. I have a new place (new to me, built in 1910) and have been doing little projects. Just painting the front room and walls up the stairs was really disruptive, and my kitchen, luckily, is unaffected.

lemurcat2

Here's another tracker: https://odncouncildotorg.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/sample_1_day_dash_tracker_1600.pdf

(3-6 oz daily for meat here)

This one is for 1600 cal, but there are different versions for different cal levels.

weightgoesbyebye

I was wondering how not eating enough affects blood pressure. I noticed the last 10 days or so I have not been eating as much as I should. I'm 380pound male and eating like 1200 calories a day and my pressure has gone through the roof. And to make matters worse when my BP is up I dont wanna eat.

I also notice my BP rises when I go low in salt.

I'm just asking does anyone know why this is or is it just my body lol.

Thanks and Happy Dashing.

lemurcat2

You should talk to a doctor about that. It sounds worrisome.

My only theory is that very low cal dieting increases cortisol (so can cutting carbs too much), and there are theories that high cortisol can increase blood pressure.

Don't know why lower sodium would do it.

Another possibility is that you are generally experiencing anxiety related to dieting perhaps? Or just putting too much stress on your body -- are you also more active than you were?

weightgoesbyebye

I never thought of the anxiety part. Thanks

zeejane03

Thanks for the heads up lemucat-going to listen to the second podcast now!

GottaBurnEmAll

Kevin was cracking me up with his "breakfast potatoes". I was hoping you'd both find Katherine's spreadsheets, especially after the previous discussions about serving sizes in this thread. They seem like they'll be an easy way to get a handle on things.

zeejane03

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

Kevin was cracking me up with his "breakfast potatoes". I was hoping you'd both find Katherine's spreadsheets, especially after the previous discussions about serving sizes in this thread. They seem like they'll be an easy way to get a handle on things.

I got hung up on his orangecicle oatmeal....must have the recipe!!

eta: interesting their thoughts on doing DASH with a lower calorie allotment, they think it's pretty hard to follow the guidelines on anything lower than 1,800 calories (to get in the recommended micros etc). Trying to follow the plan on 1,400 calories I definitely see my own experience lining up with this, I still haven't been able to fit in all the recommended servings (even adjusting down to the NIH's lower calorie servings recommendations).

eta2: I'm totally making breakfast potatoes now

zeejane03

Below the podcast there is a link to where Katherine got her spreadsheet/check-off list. Very similar to what I made for myself (difference is that on my check-off list I adjusted my servings to match the NIH's 1,400 DASH recommendations).

weightgoesbyebye

Does anyone have a check off sheet for the 2000 calorie plan. I tried to make one but had no clue how to. Thanks

zeejane03

weightgoesbyebye wrote: »

Does anyone have a check off sheet for the 2000 calorie plan. I tried to make one but had no clue how to. Thanks

I'm doing the 1,400 calorie option and just typed it out on a google doc.-then copy pasted it several times on one sheet, so I have around a week at a time on one print out paper. Here's what mine looks like (so this is copy/pasted 5 times on one sheet of paper)

Recommended Servings & Today's Totals [for 1,400 calories]

Grains & Beans 5-6 servings:
Vegetables 3-4 servings:
Fruit 4 servings:
Low fat dairy 3-4 servings:
Lean meats & fish 3oz or less:
Nuts & seeds 3 servings a week: 0/3
Fats and oils 1 serving:
Sweets/added sugars 3 servings or less per week: 0/3
(I did add beans to the grains section, since they're recommended as a fiber source, which fits with the grains)

So I have this printed out and on a clipboard. Throughout the day I mark down the servings and then tally them up at night and post here in the thread, for a bit of accountability I also jot down my daily weigh-ins on it, personal notes like if we're eating out etc etc.

I got the information from the NIH site
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/dash-eating-plan
(scroll down a bit and it lays out the different serving recommendations for various calorie ranges)

kpk54

I'll suggest a little more of a sense of urgency regarding what your heart is doing. @weightgoesbyebye I have no theories but get yourself to a doctor.

Granted I'm not young (65) but I'm also not overweight or diabetic. I don't have clogged arteries and my blood pressure has been fine for 5-6 years (without meds) after losing my excess weight. Cholesterol is a bit off but not what some would consider crazy bad (at all). So far as I know I have none for the "markers" for a heart attack except heredity/genes (and age )...yet I had a heart attack on 10/28/18. I had a walking, talking, shopping, driving heart attack. I drove myself to urgent care after stopping by the store to get some pecorino.

I have atrial fibrillation that I never felt and it has apparently been going on long enough to form a blood clot and the blood clot caused the heart attack. Since, has not been pleasant. I left the hospital on meds but ended up back in the hospital. With that stay, I got a pacemaker to keep my heart rate up (damage from the heart attack) and on a similar but different cocktail of meds. The meds have not worked and Friday I had a cardiac ablation. Hopefully this will work.

Don't ignore what your heart is doing. It really should not be fluctuating so much.

carbos101

lemurcat2 - 1910 - that's awesome.
I'm clueless about how I'll get all nutrients in on 1300 calories but losing weight is my first priority.

ZJ03 - Thx for the above link gov/health dash-eating plan.

Keep care of that blood pressure, weightgoesb - we're concerned about BP around my house, too. This Dash eating plan looks promising.

lemurcat2

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

Kevin was cracking me up with his "breakfast potatoes". I was hoping you'd both find Katherine's spreadsheets, especially after the previous discussions about serving sizes in this thread. They seem like they'll be an easy way to get a handle on things.

Yeah, the breakfast potatoes thing was hilarious, and it made me think I want potatoes tomorrow with breakfast (but I don't have any on hand, so I guess not). I am going to create a spreadsheet based on one of the ones I found. I also spent a good bit of this evening organizing my pantry, and so I am now aware of how much I have in dried beans and -- especially -- dried grains. Every once in a while I get ambitious about new (to me) grains, mixed grains, etc., and as mentioned I rarely eat them, and so I have a bunch. Exciting incentive to try out a bunch of them, including barley, millet, etc., as well as to eat some of the different wild rice and quinoa options I have, etc.

zeejane03

Had another servings size blunder realization today-I frequently mix a bag of CA blend veggies (Aldi brand) to rice and bean bowls. The nutrition label says a bag has 4 servings so that's what I was going by. Realized today though that each serving is 3/4 cup, so one bag is actually 6 DASH veggies servings.

Another one that threw me-had pistachios as a snack and those suckers are calorie dense for a serving size of 1/4c (per nutrition label). But the DASH nuts serving size is actually 1/3c?? That's a LOT of calories for a not-so filling snack I couldn't make myself do a full 1/3c and stuck with 1/4c lol.

lemurcat2

I've been counting 28 g of nuts as a serving, so oh well.

lemurcat2

I created a google docs spreadsheet for myself based on the Oregon one I linked above. The servings confusion is not helped by all of these being different amounts. Mine says 1 serving of nuts/seeds/legumes 3-4 times weekly, which I've changed to 1-2 servings of nuts/seeds daily (with a serving being 28 g for these purposes). I'm using 80 g as a serving of veg or fruit, which is what we did with the veg/fruit challenge, and I cannot stand thinking of non liquids in cups. For some reason the Oregon chart used 2 oz (not cups, yay!) as the serving size for grains, with a goal of 6 oz, so I converted that to grams and am using it. (It's lower because I used the sizes for 1600 cal goal.) Oil is supposed to be limited to 2 tsp, and I really don't mind going over with olive oil, but eh, I'll use that.

zeejane03

Recommended Servings & Today's Totals [for 1,400 calories]

Grains & Beans 5-6 servings: 8
Vegetables 3-4 servings: 7
Fruit 4 servings: 2
Low fat dairy 3-4 servings: 2
Lean meats & fish 3oz or less: 3oz
Nuts & seeds 3 servings a week: 1/3
Fats and oils 1 serving: 1
Sweets/added sugars 3 servings or less per week: 2/3

lemurcat2

Using the Oregon spreadsheet with my modifications as explained above:

Fruit -- 3-4 servings: 1
Veg -- 4+ servings: 10
Dairy -- 2-3 servings: 2
Whole grains, beans, etc. -- 3 servings: 1 (2 oz)
Meat -- 3-6 oz: 5.375 oz (skinless chicken breast)
Added fat -- 2 tsp: 3 tsp (olive oil)
Nuts and seeds -- 1-2 servings (28 g/serving): 1 serving

Other notes from Cron: cals on point (bit low, in fact), good protein, fiber 42 g (still not 50, but not bad), over potassium, way over magnesium, good omega 3 to 6, hit all vitamins but B12 and D (which I am supplementing), 92% calcium (need to improve this one). I tried to add in salt used in cooking honestly, and got a total of 1710 mg sodium, which is within my goals (but I'm not weighing cooking salt so could be higher).

Sabine_Stroehm

I'm now about 1/3 of the way through the new The DASH Diet Mediterranean Solution. It has the solid work of the DASH diet behind it, without moderate use of grains. So far I'd say it's going on my list of formal diet plans to recommend.

zeejane03

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

I'm now about 1/3 of the way through the new The DASH Diet Mediterranean Solution. It has the solid work of the DASH diet behind it, without moderate use of grains. So far I'd say it's going on my list of formal diet plans to recommend.

Thanks for the heads up, didn't realize there was a new book out! Going to see if I can get it at the library

eta: lots of library holds out on it, might just have to buy the kindle book-I'm snowed in this week so it would give me something to do lol.

amberellen12

Oh I really like this eating plan! 👍Nice and easy to follow. My question is starch veg. Would you count them as a grain or veg?

zeejane03

amberellen12 wrote: »

Oh I really like this eating plan! 👍Nice and easy to follow. My question is starch veg. Would you count them as a grain or veg?

I'm counting them as a veggie, don't know if that's correct though?

amberellen12

Me either.🤷🏻‍♀️ Starch is like a grain sugar is why I’m asking.

I’m following the 1600 calorie plan though I’m at 1330 calories. I don’t have dairy... lactose intolerant so it brings the count down.

Sabine_Stroehm

zeejane03 wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

I'm now about 1/3 of the way through the new The DASH Diet Mediterranean Solution. It has the solid work of the DASH diet behind it, without moderate use of grains. So far I'd say it's going on my list of formal diet plans to recommend.

Thanks for the heads up, didn't realize there was a new book out! Going to see if I can get it at the library

eta: lots of library holds out on it, might just have to buy the kindle book-I'm snowed in this week so it would give me something to do lol.

I'm enjoying it. I love much about a "mediterranean" eating plan, and this fits right in. It's a slow carber's DREAM diet (almost).

lemurcat2

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

I'm now about 1/3 of the way through the new The DASH Diet Mediterranean Solution. It has the solid work of the DASH diet behind it, without moderate use of grains. So far I'd say it's going on my list of formal diet plans to recommend.

I started the other book by the author and was concerned it didn't really seem like DASH, because of the "induction" cutting OUT grains and some other foods. I wasn't sure how much she was really connected to DASH vs. just using the name. It does fit my own preferences pretty well, however.

lemurcat2

amberellen12 wrote: »

Oh I really like this eating plan! 👍Nice and easy to follow. My question is starch veg. Would you count them as a grain or veg?

If you mean like potatoes/sweet potatoes or peas, I put them in my grain category (which I have made into a whole grains, pulses, tubers, and beans and lentils category). But that's because those foods take the same role in a meal for me, and I think they are different than non starchy veg that are much lower cal.

GottaBurnEmAll

lemurcat2 wrote: »

amberellen12 wrote: »

Oh I really like this eating plan! 👍Nice and easy to follow. My question is starch veg. Would you count them as a grain or veg?

If you mean like potatoes/sweet potatoes or peas, I put them in my grain category (which I have made into a whole grains, pulses, tubers, and beans and lentils category). But that's because those foods take the same role in a meal for me, and I think they are different than non starchy veg that are much lower cal.

I see your reason for this, and since you don't have high blood pressure and are only doing the diet as an experiment, this makes sense for you.

However...

If someone were to do DASH for high blood pressure, I think it's important to remember that the main function of the recommended servings of whole grains in the diet is to provide fiber and tubers would be providing micronutrients along with fiber. So I think for someone doing DASH for medical reasons, tubers should count as veg.

For me personally? I think of them like you do.