Any luck with the DASH Diet?

arditarose wrote: »

Never heard of it. My favorite is the balanced diet. Tons of luck.

The DASH diet is QUITE balanced actually. Google it. It's all over the news and what not lately. Something about it being the BEST and HEALTHIEST or something of that sort.

OP: there have been a few threads about it in the last few days, given the news, but other than that, there was a group here a year or so ago. A few posts about good success with weight loss AND hypertension, but it was never a very active group.

Here's my thought: if a formal diet teaches someone to eat right, I'm all for it. Education is key.

Best of luck!

Basically it is a low fat diet.

MamaGab92 wrote: »

My husband and I started it yesterday. To be continued...

Why? Did your doctor tell you too?


What is with all the weird posts about the "DASH diet"? People do realize it stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension, right? It's not a weightloss plan...

aubaby wrote: »

Has anyone had good weight loss results with the DASH Diet?

Is that anything like the dine and dash diet? :-)

I'm not at all familiar with it so I guess it's time for Google and I to get acquainted.

Good luck either way.

To add, I’d say if it ain’t balanced forget about it. The body needs the carbs, fat, and protein. We just have to find the balance that works for us.

DASH is basically an update of the food pyramid rebranded under a snappy new name. It's not a fad diet; it's basically about getting your balanced servings in from the various food groups.

It's fine, but it doesn't replace calorie counting.

It's not a basic low fat diet. Not in the sense we've come to know low fat diets these days. ( to include all meat which I luvvvv, lol ) It was created initially for patients with High Blood Pressure. It contains tons of vegetables, some fruits, not too much red meat. Been around a while, not a fad. eating clean is relatively similar to it. It does work. Good Luck

It has less refined grains, which is what you want to watch if you are pre-diabetic. It also helps people with high cholesterol, hypertension, etc. They do have a plan for weight loss as well as the regular plan which is to keep your blood sugars and cholesterol in check.

lemurcat12 wrote: »

segacs wrote: »

DASH is basically an update of the food pyramid rebranded under a snappy new name. It's not a fad diet; it's basically about getting your balanced servings in from the various food groups.

Seems reasonable enough (although I have my issues with the pyramid), but WHY do people have to follow some named diet? Why not just follow the pyramid or my plate or figure out what you (not you!) think is healthy and balanced. I SO don't understand it. Seems so weird to want to follow some special diet.

I'd assume they want more guidance? Suggested meals etc.? I know when I started learning how to eat right, having a bit more guidance would have been helpful. But it was my first time trying anything other than what I'd been doing and didn't have any idea what I was doing.

aubaby wrote: »

Has anyone had good weight loss results with the DASH Diet?

I haven't seen it used for weight loss, but I have heard success stories for lowering blood pressure. I like the diet since it's not some crazy fad diet. It's a legit diet prescribed by doctors.

In case you need more info : http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/dash-diet/art-20048456

recipes: http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/recipes/dash-diet-recipes/rcs-20077146

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

segacs wrote: »

DASH is basically an update of the food pyramid rebranded under a snappy new name. It's not a fad diet; it's basically about getting your balanced servings in from the various food groups.

Seems reasonable enough (although I have my issues with the pyramid), but WHY do people have to follow some named diet? Why not just follow the pyramid or my plate or figure out what you (not you!) think is healthy and balanced. I SO don't understand it. Seems so weird to want to follow some special diet.

I'd assume they want more guidance? Suggested meals etc.? I know when I started learning how to eat right, having a bit more guidance would have been helpful. But it was my first time trying anything other than what I'd been doing and didn't have any idea what I was doing.

I guess it's just personality differences, but it seems really weird to me to want someone else telling you how to eat. I think people make it way too complicated and then think you need a PhD to figure out what's mostly pretty simple or common sense. I mean the basics are things that everyone already knows. It just seems to be that eating vegetables and getting in some protein is super boring, but going on a special shiny new diet with a NAME and buying special foods from a list and tossing all your old stuff seems more exciting or something than going to the store and buying the fruits and veggies and meats that seem appealing, like regular folks do. Or so it seems.

I was being kind of grumpy yesterday, but for some reason the idea that you need a special diet (unless you actually do, like DASH was intended, I suppose) really rubs me the wrong way. (Although to be fair DASH is not much of an offender. I just think the good bits are basic common sense that people know anyway, and that meal plans are silly.)

ShellyBell999 wrote: »

I did the "DINE & DASH" when I was younger.
Burned a lot of calories gettin the heck out of there............

LOL!

From what I've read about it, it looks very balanced and a good common-sense approach to healthy eating and weight loss. I prefer a "named" diet or a book or program because I get lost when there are too MANY choices and a free for all. I am currently working through the Mayo Clinic diet book (which was ranked right under the Mayo Clinic) and has also been around forever. I like that it takes you through stages of changing habits that really undermine a person's ability to reduce calories. Sometimes just saying "eat less, move more" isn't enough. I tend to overanalyze things so maybe that's why I'm drawn to it. We'll see how it goes!

At the risk of having a ton of judgmental comments rain down on me, we're doing the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension) Diet because my husband's doctor recommended it to him. I'm participating partly in a show of support and partly out of self-preservation.

The doctor recommended DASH because my husband's blood pressure is high due to a congenital health issue. He needs to keep his blood pressure low and was having trouble controlling it. A few days into the DASH diet, his blood pressure was TOO low and he needed adjustment to his medication. Now his blood pressure is controlled with half as much medication and at a much more desirable level.

There is plenty of free information available for those who can and want to set it up themselves.

We bought the books and are following the menus because I have neither the time nor the inclination to put that much thought into meal planning. Perhaps to some on this board that just sounds horribly lazy and lacking in common sense. It works for us. I prefer to spend my time on other things. Like working out.

In the past I've had success with weighing, measuring, and tracking. However, my husband, who would deny it vehemently, is an expert saboteur. And because of our work schedules he does most of the cooking and menu planning in our home. Since his doctor recommended this, he will follow it. He lost 17 pounds in two weeks and now excludes processed meat from the menu. For years I've tried convincing him to exclude it and he didn't listen. Now it's not part of DASH, so it's off. That's just one example.

Honestly, the comments here that say it's a balanced diet are spot-on. I find that the book calls for a bit more processed food and more dairy than I'd care to include in my diet, but that's probably what makes it practical and palatable to the vast majority of the population. I lost 6 pounds in two weeks after months of no success.

My two cents. YMMV.

Really just eat a balanced diet of natural food, mostly plants. One thing I don't like about DASH is the high amount of carbs, which is not conducive to weight loss that a lot of people on the diet need (maybe minor weight loss).