Any luck with the DASH Diet?

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).

http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-overall-diets

Hello! New here, but just wanted to add that I started DASH for weight loss phase 1 yesterday and so far I'm liking it. I'm used to eating 2 large meals and it has been an adjustment to eat 3 moderate meals and 2 snacks. I fill my plate with colorful veggies and then use portion control for my protein. I'm a nurse and I'm about to work my 3 days in a row, but I'll try to remember to check in.

I was told to go on this diet by my doctor. I did not, because as others have mentioned, I don't like people telling me what to eat. But a couple of stories here are making me re-think it. Not as much for the weight loss, but I'd really like to get off my blood pressure meds.

LuckyStar813 wrote: »

With the DASH diet is the food choices or the weight loss supposed to lower your blood pressure?

My understanding is that it's the food choices, and that they found that people lost weight on the program as well. Probably not everyone with hypertension needs to lose weight. My mother lost a ton of weight and reached a normal BMI and her blood pressure didn't go down.

I've been on the DASH diet for weight loss for one week and have lost 7.2 pounds. I couldn't believe it when I stepped on the scale. I have more energy and my systolic and diastolic blood pressure has already decreased 5 mmHg. I have one more week of phase 1 and then I add fruits and whole grains