DASH Diet thread
Replies
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The serving thing is driving me crazy. Since we did a 10+ veg and fruit challenge, I'm used to counting those servings (although the UK way, which I assume is roughly equivalent), but everything else I have to keep checking what a serving is, and am not 100% sure I'm doing it right with grains.
For eating less meat I tend to eat more beans (especially if eggs basically count as meat), and I like beans more than grains, so I'm going to freely sub beans for grains if I want. I'll do more reading to see if there's really any particular reason to eat so many grains. My suspicion is that it could be like the old food pyramid somewhat where they are cheap, faster to prepare than beans, and telling someone to eat more whole grains vs. refined is seen as an easier change that is also a good one than getting them to eat more veg or even beans. But since I already eat lots of veg and more beans/lentils, I'm not convinced there's a reason for all the grains. (I'd also sub tubers for grains unless there's some reason not to.)
I started re-listening to that podcast and might download a book that talks about the theory more.
I should re-listen to it too. I'm also getting impatient for the second one, it should be released soon I think?0 -
NVM. I answered my own question. The original DASH. 🤓I'm at around 1,400 calories right now so I'll be following the DASH recommendations of-
Grains: 5-6 a day
Vegetables 3-4 a day
Fruit: 4 a day
Low fat dairy: 3-4 a day
Lean meats, poultry and fish: 3oz or less a day.
Nuts, seeds, and legumes: 3 times a week (since I use beans as a protein source I'll be eating these daily)
Fats and oils: 1 serving a day
Sweets/added sugars: 3 servings or less per week
Sodium: 2,300 mg/day
I'll be following the NIH's serving size recommendations and the outline above, and will not be measuring/tracking besides that. If my daily weigh-ins start getting wonky, then I'll reevaluate and adjust as needed.
My plan is to post here daily with a little checklist of how many servings per category I hit.
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Took a look at Canada's updated food guide today and it lines up nicely with what DASH recommends. Think we're going to see the DASH model being promoted more and more (WHO seems to be going in this directions as well)-
https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/
Makes sense. It's a pretty good model all in all.
I like this model. In fact the plate idea is the same one my dietitian recommends. I'm going to look into this more.0 -
Check out both the original and the DASH diet weight loss solution (and the original South Beach diet on which the weight loss solution book is based).New_Heavens_Earth wrote: »Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Took a look at Canada's updated food guide today and it lines up nicely with what DASH recommends. Think we're going to see the DASH model being promoted more and more (WHO seems to be going in this directions as well)-
https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/
Makes sense. It's a pretty good model all in all.
I like this model. In fact the plate idea is the same one my dietitian recommends. I'm going to look into this more.
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The serving thing is driving me crazy. Since we did a 10+ veg and fruit challenge, I'm used to counting those servings (although the UK way, which I assume is roughly equivalent), but everything else I have to keep checking what a serving is, and am not 100% sure I'm doing it right with grains.
For eating less meat I tend to eat more beans (especially if eggs basically count as meat), and I like beans more than grains, so I'm going to freely sub beans for grains if I want. I'll do more reading to see if there's really any particular reason to eat so many grains. My suspicion is that it could be like the old food pyramid somewhat where they are cheap, faster to prepare than beans, and telling someone to eat more whole grains vs. refined is seen as an easier change that is also a good one than getting them to eat more veg or even beans. But since I already eat lots of veg and more beans/lentils, I'm not convinced there's a reason for all the grains. (I'd also sub tubers for grains unless there's some reason not to.)
I started re-listening to that podcast and might download a book that talks about the theory more.
Yeah, this. I eat grains every day, but not a lot. I do eat a lot of beans and tubers, though. I'm wondering if it's a protein or fiber thing.
Then again, I might not have my head wrapped around these DASH serving sizes.1 -
Just re-listened to the podcast. They went through a lot of studies/data, and the bottom line from all of it seems to be that there were better outcomes when there was a focus on micro-nutrients vs macros ratios. A diet high in magnesium, potassium and calcium, along with a reduction in sodium intake had the better markers. Add into that weight loss for those overweight, and there were substantial improvements in heart health markers. Along with this, an emphasis on vegetables and fruit seems to be key, (which again matches the newer '10 a day' recommendations pretty much perfectly).
So, going forward I'm still going to follow their servings/categories outline but I'm not going to worry so much about hitting/not hitting the recommended grains category etc., but instead focus more on the veg/fruit categories and try to make their recommendations minimums.6 -
Just re-listened to the podcast. They went through a lot of studies/data, and the bottom line from all of it seems to be that there were better outcomes when there was a focus on micro-nutrients vs macros ratios. A diet high in magnesium, potassium and calcium, along with a reduction in sodium intake had the better markers. Add into that weight loss for those overweight, and there were substantial improvements in heart health markers. Along with this, an emphasis on vegetables and fruit seems to be key, (which again matches the newer '10 a day' recommendations pretty much perfectly).
So, going forward I'm still going to follow their servings/categories outline but I'm not going to worry so much about hitting/not hitting the recommended grains category etc., but instead focus more on the veg/fruit categories and try to make their recommendations minimums.
You might find their weight loss book to be more of your liking then. It's a bit lighter on the grains.1 -
Just listened to the podcast again since it's been a while. The grain recommendations are indeed to hit a fiber goal. DASH calls for 50 grams of fiber a day. I'd much rather hit that with higher protein and beans than with grains.2
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Just listened to the podcast again since it's been a while. The grain recommendations are indeed to hit a fiber goal. DASH calls for 50 grams of fiber a day. I'd much rather hit that with higher protein and beans than with grains.
50!
I have some work to do before I give this a shot, I was just feeling proud that I'm almost managing to get over the MFP 24g goal most days.
I grew up never being served beans, except an occasional spoonful of Campbell's Baked Beans which I hated, so adding them into my diet is like a mental block. I like them just fine, I just never think to buy/plan/cook them. If I could get that down, I'd be golden.0 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Just listened to the podcast again since it's been a while. The grain recommendations are indeed to hit a fiber goal. DASH calls for 50 grams of fiber a day. I'd much rather hit that with higher protein and beans than with grains.
50! I have some work to do before I give this a shot, I was just feeling proud that I'm almost managing to get over the MFP 24g goal most days.
I grew up never being served beans, except an occasional spoonful of Campbell's Baked Beans which I hated, so adding them into my diet is like a mental block. I like them just fine, I just never think to buy/plan/cook them. If I could get that down, I'd be golden.
Beans threw me too initially (I decided to add them when I went 'pescetarian' earlier this month). I started out at 0 servings a day and I'm now up to 1-2 servings a day.
I put a serving of cold beans into my large salads and I don't even notice them, mixed in with everything else. I do this with garbanzo beans too, though I do microwave them for about 25 seconds first, to soften them a bit. I also do warm canned beans with rice, CA blend veggies and then sweet n' sour sauce (a rice bowl). And then something I've started doing that I really enjoy-I mix a large can of baked beans with two regular sized cans of other kinds of beans (baked beans are usually pinto beans, so my current batch also includes kidney and black beans). Mix it all together and freez/refrigerate. Defrosted they warm up in like 35 seconds in the microwave. I add a drizzle of mustard to it and it makes for an easy side.
Also, canned refried beans are good for burritos or nachos
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Just listened to the podcast again since it's been a while. The grain recommendations are indeed to hit a fiber goal. DASH calls for 50 grams of fiber a day. I'd much rather hit that with higher protein and beans than with grains.
I listened to it again and didn't catch this, thanks! I'm going to start counting my beans in the grains section then 1 -
1/23 (today's weigh-in 136.4lbs)
Recommended Servings & Today's Totals
Grains & Beans 5-6 servings : 6
Vegetables 3-4 servings : 11
Fruit 4 servings: x
Low fat dairy 3-4 servings: 2
Lean meats & fish 3oz or less: 3oz (Pollock)
Nuts & seeds 3 servings a week: 0/3
Fats and oils 1 serving: 2 (1 tsp canola oil and then olives)
Sweets/added sugars 3 servings or less per week: 2/3
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I don't eat whole eggs by themselves often since I'm sensitive to dietary cholesterol, but a fried or poached egg on a bed of refried beans is all kinds of delicious.3
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Thanks for the ideas guys, I'll keep on it. I've never bought canned refried beans, I've got to try that next grocery trip!1
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Are youThanks for sharing lemurcat-I'm also struggling with the grains category, which has surprised me. I thought I ate more of them than I actually do? I'm also torn with what to do with those pesky beans lol. I eat 1-2 servings a day, as a protein source, so that's skewing my 'nuts, seeds and legumes' column.
Since I'm in a short weight loss phase right now I'm going to keep the low fat dairy, but with only 8ish pounds to go, I'll be wrapping it up in the next few weeks and then I plan on switching over to full fat dairy.
Curious: are you two following the original book or the DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution?
We are trying different protocols. They discussed a higher fat protocol that seemed to have results that were as good on a podcast we listened to (as well as some other alternative versions), so I decided to try it. A study about it is linked early in the thread.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Just listened to the podcast again since it's been a while. The grain recommendations are indeed to hit a fiber goal. DASH calls for 50 grams of fiber a day. I'd much rather hit that with higher protein and beans than with grains.
That's useful (I am going to finish re-listening tonight). I don't really find grains super-useful for fiber, since I replace it with foods that are as or more fiber-rich usually. Am eating more than usual, but nowhere near the goals (and above the goals for veg and beans/lentils).
I was happy that I was close to 40 g yesterday even with no beans and only 2 servings of grains -- made sensible veg and fruit choices, I guess, and some nuts too. Also, I do care about protein and beans help much more than grains.3 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Just listened to the podcast again since it's been a while. The grain recommendations are indeed to hit a fiber goal. DASH calls for 50 grams of fiber a day. I'd much rather hit that with higher protein and beans than with grains.
50! I have some work to do before I give this a shot, I was just feeling proud that I'm almost managing to get over the MFP 24g goal most days.
I grew up never being served beans, except an occasional spoonful of Campbell's Baked Beans which I hated, so adding them into my diet is like a mental block. I like them just fine, I just never think to buy/plan/cook them. If I could get that down, I'd be golden.
For some reason I lived on beans and rice + veg and maybe some feta added in for a while in my 20s (I was a vegetarian at the time). Nothing fancy since I couldn't actually cook much without it being a huge process that required buying a bunch of things and taking forever, but those packaged mixes with black beans or red beans or a mix of different kinds of beans.
Then for a while I was persnickety about canned foods and packaged foods (bought into the whole "processing is bad" thing) and would only do them from dry, which required planning. Now I do do them from dry quite often -- and highly recommend lentils, as they are easy and fast and delicious -- but I also will use canned without problem (black beans and cannellini or navy are good ones for stew-type meals). I have an Indian cookbook with lots of good pressure cooker recipes that I've been meaning to try and do in my instapot, but keep getting busy during times I'd be prepping/experimenting.2 -
Thank you all!!! Will continue to follow and ask your opinions.0
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1/24
Recommended Servings & Today's Totals
Grains & Beans 5-6 servings : 6
Vegetables 3-4 servings : 1.5
Fruit 4 servings: 3
Low fat dairy 3-4 servings: 2
Lean meats & fish 3oz or less x
Nuts & seeds 3 servings a week:1/3
Fats and oils 1 serving: 1-ish
Sweets/added sugars 3 servings or less per week: 3/3
Today was a 'meh' eating day. Dealing with a headache and general laziness, and gravitated towards no-prep foods. Lunch consisted on my baked beans mixture and chili cheese Fritos
Very low vegetables day, but yesterday was pretty high, so it all evens out. I had a homemade chocolate chip cookie so I counted that in the 'sweets' category, but I also sort of put it in the 'fat' category. 0 -
Recommended Servings
Grains: 5 a day (serving is only 28 g, but I am going to be lenient about being able to sub beans/lentils/peas for grains unless my targets as discussed below are way off) -- LOL, half a serving (if you count quinoa) today, due to various issues. 1 serving of chickpeas and 2 of navy beans, however.
Vegetables: 5 servings a day (I am going to keep trying for my 10+ of fruit and veg) -- 12 if you don't count any of the beans or olive -- variety included cucumber, tomatoes, onion, cauliflower, watercress, chard, radish, carrot, celery. Also had garlic and parsley, but not enough to count.
Fruit: 1.5 a day -- 2, mixed berries (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries)
Full fat dairy: 2.5 cups a day -- 1 cup of cottage cheese and an oz of feta cheese, so I think that's 1.5 servings
Lean meats & fish: 3-4 oz a day (but averaged over a week) -- 5 oz shrimp
Nuts, seeds, and legumes: 2.5 oz a day (this seems high, but the study said 2 oz/day for standard DASH also, which seems inconsistent with the usual servings given) -- still confused about this, but 1 oz of nuts -- 1 oz almonds, legumes are now with grains
Better day today. Didn't report yesterday since it was a weird day where I ended up being too busy to eat lunch and too tired to eat more than my normal dinner, so cals were low.
Getting more into the groove of this, so liking it, but am going to be loosey-goosey with the rules as I rebel if I feel too restricted.
Overall:
Cals a bit over, but given the last two days I'm fine with that. More fat than reported above since I used olive oil and ate olives.
Cheese and cottage cheese and olives, plus salt in cooking, so not a low sodium day, but I'm not that interested in sodium.
43% fat, 37% carbs, 24% protein -- still a disconnect in total numbers at Cron, which I assume was due to fiber, but numbers were fine.
Fiber was a bit over 40 g, which is IMO good, but not yet the goal.
Over most of my nutrition goals, but for B3 (92%) and D (only 56%), but I believe D needs to be from the sun or supplemented, so need to remember to supplement.2 -
1/25
Recommended Servings & Today's Totals
Grains & Beans 5-6 servings : 4
Vegetables 3-4 servings : 8
Fruit 4 servings: 3
Low fat dairy 3-4 servings: 4
Lean meats & fish 3oz or less: 4oz (salmon)
Nuts & seeds 3 servings a week:1/3
Fats and oils 1 serving: 2
Sweets/added sugars 3 servings or less per week: Wasn't tracking accurately/FAIL (lol).
As I wrap up my first full week of tracking, DASH style-
-it's been more challenging to hit their recommended servings than I thought it would be. Their serving sizes are throwing me a bit too, especially how they count fats servings (1 serving of the ranch dressing I use is 2tbsp, per the nutrition label, but is considered 2 servings for DASH's fats section etc)
-I eat more added sugar than I thought. I don't have a sweet tooth so I thought my added sugar intake was fairly low. I wasn't taking into consideration condiments though-I use sweet n' sour sauce with rice, the fat free Catalina dressing I use several times a week in my salads has added sugar (I didn't realize this until today, and I haven't been counting it ugh), the tsp of brown sugar that I use in a spice blend for my fish, the sugar cinnamon I sprinkle on my sweet potatoes....plus a couple of sweet treats throughout the week-it adds up quickly!
For the weekend I won't be tallying here, though I'll still be keeping track at home. I'm enjoying this experiment so I'll be continuing on for the foreseeable future, I think it's helping me pay more attention to veg/fruit intake etc. Not sure what to do about the added sugar recommendations yet, 3 of their servings a week is a really small, and not really realistic, number for me. It's a goal to work towards though I suppose!4 -
For the weekend I won't be tallying here, though I'll still be keeping track at home. I'm enjoying this experiment so I'll be continuing on for the foreseeable future, I think it's helping me pay more attention to veg/fruit intake etc. Not sure what to do about the added sugar recommendations yet, 3 of their servings a week is a really small, and not really realistic, number for me. It's a goal to work towards though I suppose!
I'm enjoying it too, although I wish I had a better guide for the higher fat version. Added sugar isn't an issue for me (I cut it out for a period of time as another experiment, so that made it easier), but my added fat is too high for the general DASH (but I'm hitting the macros of the high fat version well, and I'm not really bothered by olive oil). It's mostly helping me be more conscious of when I just rely on meat/eggs for protein and to plan to have fast and easy plant-based options available (like cooking ahead something tasty with beans, etc. for lunches). I'm also finding it more fun to concentrate on this and for me it's giving me a reason to log again and to eat well through the weekend (I think, we'll see) when I tend to go to restaurants.1 -
zeejane - thanks for this thread/appreciate! Just 'heard' about this under the Med eating topic again (where I get lost but need to figure out!). I was short time last week and lost my way keeping up here. Trying to figure out easiest way to buy Aldi bread - hopefully I can order a whole grain/wheat type.3
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zeejane - thanks for this thread/appreciate! Just 'heard' about this under the Med eating topic again (where I get lost but need to figure out!). I was short time last week and lost my way keeping up here. Trying to figure out easiest way to buy Aldi bread - hopefully I can order a whole grain/wheat type.
If you shop at Aldi they have a couple whole grain options. I buy their 'Knock your Sprouts Off' bread, which is a sprouted whole grains bread. It tastes really good and has 70 calories per slice. I usually eat two slices toasted every morning, with two triangles of Aldi light cheese spread (25 calories per triangle).1 -
Thanks for the reply. Being me, I've just downloaded the Mediterranean Dash diet book, having read all of the others.Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »Are youThanks for sharing lemurcat-I'm also struggling with the grains category, which has surprised me. I thought I ate more of them than I actually do? I'm also torn with what to do with those pesky beans lol. I eat 1-2 servings a day, as a protein source, so that's skewing my 'nuts, seeds and legumes' column.
Since I'm in a short weight loss phase right now I'm going to keep the low fat dairy, but with only 8ish pounds to go, I'll be wrapping it up in the next few weeks and then I plan on switching over to full fat dairy.
Curious: are you two following the original book or the DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution?
We are trying different protocols. They discussed a higher fat protocol that seemed to have results that were as good on a podcast we listened to (as well as some other alternative versions), so I decided to try it. A study about it is linked early in the thread.1 -
ZJ03/thanks! That's my problem -- never heard of Aldi and we must not have one here. I'll check to see about the 'KYSO' bread/thanks for all the info. I like this DASH eating plan - love starches and carbo but I have to balance out with some serious, small, portions, of protein (will try to squeeze it out of the Greek yogurt&dairy) or I feel sick so I'm trying to gather up my foods and learn about it. Very interesting -- other than the extreme-lean beef/pork/chicken allowed, I can't figure out the difference yet between DASH vs. MED but don't have the details down. MED is probably more rich oils, also. Also, from the MED thread sounds like not smart to cook black beans in crockpot/Instant Pot -- go figure.
Again, thx/appreciate!
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ZJ03/thanks! That's my problem -- never heard of Aldi and we must not have one here.
I don't think they are as widespread in the US. There are some here (Chicago), but none particularly close to me. All of my grocery stores have a wide variety of whole grain options, however.Very interesting -- other than the extreme-lean beef/pork/chicken allowed, I can't figure out the difference yet between DASH vs. MED but don't have the details down. MED is probably more rich oils, also. Also, from the MED thread sounds like not smart to cook black beans in crockpot/Instant Pot -- go figure.
They are very similar, except that DASH started as a planned diet to achieve certain health benefits so had a focus on lowering sodium and increasing potassium. (But it looked at the kinds of diets that seemed to naturally result in the positive health outcomes sought, which included the traditional Med way of eating.) DASH creators/studiers believed there would be a benefit from dairy, so includes that (Med doesn't cut it out as it's more just a broad eating pattern, but it's generally not a significant part of the diet). DASH also is more structured on servings and so on and the traditional way of doing it is lower fat.
But then they tried a variety of different DASH patterns (one without dairy, one higher fat, so on) to see differences in results. What I'm seeing is that higher fat (but from dairy and then healthy plant-based fats like olive oil, avocado) was just as good, and I enjoy higher fat and think there are possible benefits from full fat dairy, so am trying it. That does make what I'm personally doing more like a Med pattern but for the dairy, I think. I am using more olive oil in cooking or for salad dressing than you could on original DASH, also.
DASH is based on the idea that increasing micronutrients and especially potassium, magnesium, calcium, fiber are beneficial. I'm logging (most of the time, didn't yesterday) to see those numbers and to see sodium, but I'm doing it at Cron as it's easier for micronutrients. The point of the diet is to make sure those numbers are where they should be even without logging if you make good food choices, but I find I prefer logging to counting servings, although I can look back over my day and see "oh, maybe should try more X and less Y tomorrow."
So I definitely think you can follow the general principles of either and comment here and not worry about fitting a particular plan perfectly.2 -
WRT to DASH/Med, I think DASH, the Mediterranean Diet, and the MIND diet are all fairly similar eating patterns.
I'm not formally following any one of these, since I already pretty much eat this way. My current experiment is focused on increasing fiber and variety.
Here's a DASH friendly recipe I just made that was quite tasty. I doubled up on the cauliflower and quite cut back on the olive oil. I used only a teaspoon to toss with the roasted veggies and a teaspoon to saute the aromatics. It was really tasty. I can't eat nuts, so eliminated those from my serving.
https://themediterraneandish.com/chickpea-stew-and-cauliflower-recipe/4 -
You gals/guys are so fast/efficient -- can't wait to come back and read your knowledge. BTW I just typed in Dash Diet (didn't type in 'The') and someone (past few weeks) is inquiring whether there's a DASH eating plan group. To find THIS thread I have to go into the 'Search' and type in the exact words, The Dash Diet, otherwise it's not coming up and I can't find it under the regular topics like last night -- I'll try to help the other person but I'd only typed in 'Dash Diet' but this topic didn't pop up.
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oops - someone was inquiring about 1/18 not 1/19. I still left info re/this thread.0
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