Posts Tagged ‘Dash Program’
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. DASH is an abbreviation 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 encourages choosing fresh food over processed products. The incentive is that fresh foods often taste better. 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. Lowering sodium intake through the elimination of processed foods is an important component of managing your hypertension and enjoying a long, healthy 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 program was the result of a large group of studies that examined many popular eating plans and their typical outcomes.
This lifestyle program not only tells people what foods are good for them, it also advises them as to how to choose healthy, satisfying foods as a replacement for nutrient poor fast food. This is actually quite critical, since dieting causes many people to start craving the junk food that they’re used to eating. 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.
Your Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure with DASH is the official guide book for the DASH diet. This guide shows the nutritional information for many foods and gives suggestions for healthy alternatives for the less nutritious ones. The guide also provides meal ideas that meet the DASH guidelines, along with a nutritional analysis. It also includes valuable resources such as places where people can find help to start the program, and other support mechanisms that are available to help you make it work.
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. This program comes highly recommended by many leading experts in the area of nutrition and health. 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.