Dash Diet

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  • dee_thurman
    dee_thurman Posts: 240 Member
    I am almost finished with the 2nd week and I am used to the diet. I am not that hungry throughout the day because as long as you snack with the correct food you can eat 5/6 times. You eventually have to eat vegetables as you snack because you are only allowed so many servings in other areas and you are unlimited eating vegetables. I like vegetables and am full after eating. With those restrictions however I am not getting enough calories according to my fitness pal. The other thing that I am a little bit over is sodium but not by much. I think my sodium intake will get a little better when I can put grains and fruits back into my diet. My calorie intake will increase as well. I appreciate everyone's thoughts to my post.
  • pineygirl
    pineygirl Posts: 322 Member
    catscats222 wrote: »
    i wonder if any fit person has high blood pressure
    i wonder if anyone that eats healthy, walks every day, etc has problems
    something i never, ever though about

    I did. I was a healthy weight, worked out, and ate healthy....on top of having a pretty active job. My BP was 180/120....I was only 27 years old and a non smoker.

    I tried medication...was on the DASH diet....but ate even less sodiym. My blood pressure was not easily controlled by medication.

    It turned out I have renal aretery stenosis in both of my renal arteries due to fibro muscular dysplasia. I had angioplasty twice. So that's really the only thing that helps my blood pressure.
  • cbr2016
    cbr2016 Posts: 5 Member
    The original DASH Diet stood for "dietary approaches to stop hypertension". It was never meant to be a weight loss plan. Any of these new plans with stages are fad diets. However, if a doctor has recommended you follow the original DASH diet to try to control hypertension, please do not listen to anyone here over your doctor.

    Sodium doesn't cause HBP, but lowering it has been proven over decades to help some people lower BP. This is proven. Even the smallest decrease in BP readings translates into a decrease risk of heart and kidney issues down the road. If controlling sodium doesn't affect your BP, well sorry, but don't discount it for most of the population.

    If you have been diagnosed with hypertension, do what ever it takes...meds, weight loss, exercise or low sodium to try to get it in control. Of course, you can try any of these approaches or combination of approaches, but why not do everything it takes to lower your BP? For what it is worth, MFP ended up figuring my sodium, potassium and magnesium goals right in line with what DASH would recommend. Yeah, it sucks to have to eat low sodium, but hypertension is serious and you do what you have to do to improve quality of life down the road.

    Most everyone on MFP gets it: less calories in vs calories out equals weight loss....calorie deficiency....so simple for weight loss. Any weight loss helps with health ailments. That is great. I have seen a lot of people on these boards over the years just tout that and that is great and true. But to tell people with high BP not to worry about sodium and all they need to do is control calories is just wrong.
  • dee_thurman
    dee_thurman Posts: 240 Member
    cbr2016, I 100% agree with your post. I am doing really well with eating the correct number of calories and I am losing weight. However, I just don't want to lose weight. I want to be healthy. I am worried about my sodium numbers. A lot of the dash diet recommendations that I read from my book (lunch meat (turkey and ham), most of the nuts (unsalted cashews,) rotessaire chicken, and more.... may not have ungodly amounts of sodium but they add up at the end of the day. It is hard, in my opinion, to eat low calorie foods with low amounts of sodium. The recommendation seems low. I couldn't imagine being on a 1500 mg sodium diet.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Don't do it. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit, so why make it more complicated if you don't have to?
  • sunandmoons
    sunandmoons Posts: 415 Member
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    Don't do it. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit, so why make it more complicated if you don't have to?

    Applause!!!
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    edited November 2015
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    Don't do it. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit, so why make it more complicated if you don't have to?
    sunandmoons wrote: »
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    Don't do it. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit, so why make it more complicated if you don't have to?

    Applause!!!

    Because most of us with HBP are concerned with more than losing weight. I have lost 75lbs...exercise...and it still didn't get my BP under control.

    ETA...May I ask what your credentials are to advise people to go against what the AHA and most doctors recommend to their patients?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    If I was allowed to eat 3 servings of cheese I would choose

    an entire baked camembert
    an entire stilton
    and a goats cheese - or an extra mature stilton

    ooooo cheese .. slavers
  • 3bambi3
    3bambi3 Posts: 1,650 Member
    Annie_01 wrote: »
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    Don't do it. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit, so why make it more complicated if you don't have to?
    sunandmoons wrote: »
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    Don't do it. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit, so why make it more complicated if you don't have to?

    Applause!!!

    Because most of us with HBP are concerned with more than losing weight. I have lost 75lbs...exercise...and it still didn't get my BP under control.

    ETA...May I ask what your credentials are to advise people to go against what the AHA and most doctors recommend to their patients?

    Did you miss the post where the OP came back and said they were doing this as a weight loss aid, and not to help with high blood pressure?
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    3bambi3 wrote: »
    Annie_01 wrote: »
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    Don't do it. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit, so why make it more complicated if you don't have to?
    sunandmoons wrote: »
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    Don't do it. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit, so why make it more complicated if you don't have to?

    Applause!!!

    Because most of us with HBP are concerned with more than losing weight. I have lost 75lbs...exercise...and it still didn't get my BP under control.

    ETA...May I ask what your credentials are to advise people to go against what the AHA and most doctors recommend to their patients?

    Did you miss the post where the OP came back and said they were doing this as a weight loss aid, and not to help with high blood pressure?

    Yes. I haven't seen the OP be explicit on not needing to control HBP
  • breakfasttomadness
    breakfasttomadness Posts: 5 Member
    If you don't have HBP to control, and you are only using the weight loss portion, I am going to agree with everyone else when they say to not bother with it. If is isn't a long term sustainable way of eating for you its not worth the trouble to try to stick to it. You will have more success just weighing your portion sizes and making mindful decisions about what you eat.
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