The DASH Diet – Not Just Another Fad

You might have read about the DASH diet and wondered if it's just another quick weight loss scheme. Far from it. It's actually a very healthy approach to eating that was developed by the US National Institutes of Health to help people control their high blood pressure and cholesterol. The name is short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The diet encourages the consumption of lots of unprocessed, nutrient packed foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean white meats and fish, while avoiding sugar, sodium and red meat. In fact, this plan is actually one of the most healthy weight loss programs you can find today.

The diet also advises against eating too many processed foods. Once people learn to give up these overly processed products they often find that food has a much better flavor. The typical diet of people in western society gets 75 percent of its sodium from processed foods. This is why the DASH diet discourages them. Sodium is the leading cause of high blood pressure. Reducing your sodium intake by eliminating processed foods from your diet is a big step towards controlling your blood pressure and living a healthier, longer life.

It's not just people with high blood pressure who can benefit from the DASH diet. It also encourages lifestyle changes rather than food deprivation to help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. The DASH diet was the outcome of numerous studies that looked at various diet programs and their results.

This healthy lifestyle plan demonstrates to people what good eating habits look like. However, it also points them towards healthier substitutes for junk food. This component of the program is perhaps the most important, because when people change their eating habits, they start to long for their old low nutrient favorites. By substituting a healthier food that satisfies the body, people are less likely to cheat. This makes it more likely they'll stick to the diet over the long haul.

There's also a book of guidelines that has been published for the diet called Your Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure with DASH. This guide shows the nutritional information for many foods and gives suggestions for healthy alternatives for the less nutritious ones. This useful reference tool also has great ideas for meal preparation that fit within the DASH recommendations, complete with nutritional breakdown. It also features a useful resource section which includes the names of organizations that can help people get started with the plan, and provide support to maintain it.

As you can see, the DASH diet isn't the latest rapid weight loss diet to make the rounds. It has been developed through careful research studies. It's endorsed by numerous experts and organizations in the field of health and nutrition. For people with hypertension problems, this program is one of the most recommended ways to manage the problem apart from medication. It's also ideal for people who are looking for a healthier approach to eating or practical, nutritional weight loss advice.