What is the DASH diet and why do doctors consider it the healthiest?

In the list of the best diets in the world, the first place, for several consecutive years, has been occupied by the DASH diet, considered the most effective for improving all health indicators. According to physicians from the National Institutes of Health, this regimen scores 3.3 out of 5 in the “Effectiveness in Weight Loss” category and 4.8 out of 5 in “Health Benefits.”

O awesome.club decided to investigate what makes this diet so dear to health professionals.

DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)🇧🇷 is a diet that was developed specifically to lower blood pressure in hypertensive patients.

However, it was later discovered that it was also effective against other important problems: it lowers cholesterol, helps prevent strokes and heart failure, and normalizes weight. It has even been recognized as one of the best diets to prevent diabetes.

Such a diet is balanced in terms of the content of many important nutrients (calcium, potassium, protein, fiber), which are responsible for the functioning of the brain and internal organs, as well as for the health of the skin and hair.

It is also comfortable because it does not require that each nutrient be analyzed separately: it is enough to give preference to the products that we were encouraged to eat more frequently in childhood (fruits, vegetables, cereals, proteins and dairy products) and reduce the amount of salt in the dishes.

The main difference between DASH and other diets is that it was designed for people who need to control their eating for the rest of their lives. Therefore, you won’t have to go hungry: just bet on a varied, tasty, satisfying and modifiable menu. The important thing is to follow its basic principles.

The emphasis of this diet is not on the quantity of food, but on the quality of it. Check the main rules that must be followed🇧🇷

Drink up to 2 liters of liquid per day. Eat 5 times a day. And the weight of each portion cannot exceed 215 grams. The calorie content of each daily portion should be around 2000 – 2500 kcal. Sweets: a maximum of 5 times a week. Give preference to cereals, seeds, legumes, low-fat meat and vegetables. It is allowed to drink everything except sparkling water and alcoholic beverages. 8 snacks are allowed between the 5 main meals, but only if you feel uncontrollably hungry. No alcohol or cigarettes. Mandatorily reduce salt intake to 2/3 of a coffee spoon per day. Include wholemeal bread in the diet obligatorily. Eliminate sausages, fatty foods, pies, cakes, canned fish and meat.

According to the DASH diet, to work out an adequate portion, you must consider your goal: to lose weight or improve your health. If you need to focus on losing weight, you need to come up with a menu in which the amount of calories is less than usual. That is, simply reducing the amount of food on each plate.

According to DASH, the daily serving should include the following products🇧🇷

Cereals: no less than 7 servings per day (1 serving = 1 slice of bread, 1/2 cup of cooked pasta, 1/2 cup of rice or other cooked cereals). Fruit: no more than 5 servings per day (1 serving = 1 fruit, 1/4 cup prunes and the like, 1/2 cup juice). Vegetables: 5 servings per day (1 serving = 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables). Low-fat dairy products: 2 to 3 servings per day (1 serving = 50 grams of cheese or 150 milliliters of milk). Seeds, nuts, legumes: 5 servings per week (1 serving = 40 grams). Animal and vegetable fats: 3 servings per day (1 serving = 1 small spoonful of olive oil or linseed oil). Sweets: a maximum of 5 times a week (1 small spoonful of jam or honey). Liquid: 2 liters per day (water, green tea or juice). Protein: 200 grams of lean meat, fish or eggs.

Of course, you need to avoid harmful products, which you probably already know:

Cutting out harmful products from your daily menu is possible. Gradually, you will completely get rid of forbidden foods.

You can prepare your menu based on this diet and the list of permitted products.

To elaborate the portion, it is not necessary to do anything supernatural. It is enough to gradually introduce the necessary products and eliminate the prohibited ones. If your goal is to lose weight, reduce the amount of recommended servings by 1 or 2 points.

Another advantage is that this diet has become so popular that on the Internet you can find many delicious dishes and even a complete menu related to the DASH diet.

DASH is a simple, safe and healthy diet that makes people feel good and lose weight.

The practice of this regime has no time limit and ensures the intake of the correct amount of microelements and vitamins in the body. Weight loss happens smoothly, without starvation and without the “accordion effect”, which relieves the body of unnecessary stress.