Many people have been placed in that scenario time and time again. They want to change the way they eat and improve upon their daily calorie intake.
They might be willing to give exercise a chance but have a much a harder time finding the right diet plan. This can be very important when it comes to your heart and immune system. So that there can be a stronger balance to the way your body functions.
Sometimes, however, finding what works for a person, in particular, can be quite tricky. It might limit too much of the food they eat or perhaps leave them feeling miserable with how little they can eat. The DASH diet, however, will do neither.
In this article, we will go over what The DASH diet is, what it can do for your health, and what are the significant steps to understand.
What Is This Diet?
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Believe it or not, the DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) diet is actually much simpler to understand then the fancy acronym would have you believe. The diet has very few limits to take (but will talk about that later) and has much to give.
The DASH diet is designed to reduce blood pressure so that heart diseases are less likely to occur. Furthermore, it will also severely drop the amount of sodium and sugar we intake into our everyday diet.
There will be a stronger emphasis on eating fruits and vegetables so that more vitamins will go into our bloodstream, but it should be essential to know that unlike other diets, this will not be the only food needed. This diet is based on a variety of food, so no part of the nutrition pyramid will be left out.
What This Diet Includes
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The first part of understanding is that whole grains are essential when choosing what kind of bread, pasta, or any carbs that are taken into place. Stay away from white bread if possible, the best option is to find whole wheat.
The second step is the one most people neglect. When it comes to fruits and vegetables to guarantee the best quality taste and more critical nutrients, only get what is as fresh as possible. With fruits, it’s strongly advised to pick them by the whole rather than pre-cut so that you know what you’re getting. The same goes for vegetables but stay away from the canned vegetables, which contain more sodium.
With dairy, milk, and yogurt that is nonfat will be the best option. As for cheese, it’s best to limit the amount you eat by 2 ounces.
With meats, it’s vital to aim closer to that of poultry (chicken and turkey) as well as fish. This is because they are much leaner and contain less fat from other meats. Continuing from protein, unsalted nuts and seed are an excellent source for step along with eggs (although those should be limited too).
When it comes to fats and sweets, they are the food group that should have the least importance in maintaining this diet. Although they do serve their purpose to a small extent. With fat, the best place to use it is with olive oil, whenever cooking. As for sweets, this can be limited to about 1 cup of soda or something that contains only a 1 tablespoon of sugar.
What This Diet Excludes
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As shown above, the diet allows many types of food to be consumed, but what is it best to either limit or all-around avoid?
First well start easy, Sugars can be quite tempting but can lead to problems down the road. Which is why the best case in action is to substitute anything sugary with fruit (by that I mean natural fruit and not fruit flavorings) so that there may be a fix in satisfaction.
Next sodium, this is the factor that plays a big part in why our blood pressure can increase dramatically. The problem with merely avoiding salt is that it’s everywhere in our seasoning. The best way to limit this is if there’s no choice to avoid salt, then do not add any additional salt.
Finally, limit the amount of red meat you eat. This pretty much covers beef and pork as they contain much more fat and cholesterol than the average poultry. This is why it is best to have these kinds of meats only occastionally since they may seem to take up the maority of our diet.