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JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2017
the
Eat Right
issue
dietary calcium also significantly reduce blood pressure. Additional
sub studies by the DASH investigators showed improvements in
blood lipids and other cardiovascular risk factors. Reduction of
cancer risk has also been suggested. So it’s an all-around healthy
diet for a number of reasons, many disease related.
“The DASH Diet is rated highly for people with diabetes due to
the types of foods and the emphasis on low glycemic index foods —
whole fruit as opposed to fruit juice, vegetables prepared without a lot
of added fats, etc.While not designed to be a diabetic diet, the health
benefits of the nutrient dense foods fit well into a diabetic eating
plan. It emphasizes whole grains, vegetables and fruits, low-fat dairy
products, lean meats and is low in saturated and trans fats. As always,
controlling one’s calories is also essential, along with matching insulin
or oral meds to carbohydrate needs as your doctor prescribes.”
Champagne said the diet is also perfect for people trying to lose
weight.
“Losing weight is all about counting calories. Knowing the
food groups and amounts for your necessary weight loss is
important. Pennington Biomedical has a great weight loss calculator
on our website (
www.pbrc.edu). The best way to get started is to
keep a journal of your intake (or use a phone app) and count those
calories. Studies have shown that that is one of the best ways to
ensure initial success.”
Still free of hypertension, medication and those extra pounds after
ten years,Matherne said the DASH diet may have saved her life. “It
helped me to recalibrate my body by working with the foods I eat.
I have South Louisiana roots, so there are times when I must still
have that shrimp poor boy. I just don’t do it every day, or even every
week. I make it a special occasion.
“The diet helped me to understand that I had unwittingly devolved
into eating a largely processed food diet. The diet preaches the
avoidance of processed foods, and I am strict about avoiding them.
I have been transformed into a whole foods person. For example,
instead of buying pre-processed peanut butter or almond butter, both
of which contain preservatives and sugars, I grind my own nut butters
at Rouses. It’s so easy, the mill is set up right in the bulk food section
of the stores. It’s so easy, so there is simply no excuse not to.”
Highlights of the DASH diet
Based on a 2000 calorie diet, the following amounts of foods in
these groups are suggested daily:
• Grains, 6-8 servings
• Fruits, 4-5 servings
• Vegetables, 4-5 servings
• Low fat or fat free dairy, 2-3 servings
• Meat, poultry, or fish, 6 ounces or less per day
• Fats and oils, 2 to 3 small servings (a tablespoon or less)
• Weekly additions: nuts, seeds, dry beans, and peas, 4-5
servings; sweets limited to 5 small servings or less.
• The diet emphasizes that no more than 28% of calories should
come from fat and 18% of calories should come from protein.
• Sodium intake is limited to 2300 mg with more benefits as one
reduces sodium even further.
The DASH Diet
The DASH diet can be downloaded at
http://docsdash.pbrc.
edu/dash-diet/. Tips are offered on how to start and stay on
the eating plan, as well as a week of menus and some recipes.
The menus and recipes are given for two levels of daily sodium
consumption — 2,300 and 1,500 milligrams per day. Twenty-
three hundred milligrams is the highest level considered
acceptable by the National High Blood Pressure Education
Program. The 1,500 milligram level can lower blood pressure
further and more recently is the amount recommended by the
Institute of Medicine as an adequate intake level and one that
most people should try to achieve.
All the menus are lower in sodium than what adults in the United
States currently eat — about 4,200 milligrams per day in men
and 3,300 milligrams per day in women. Those with high blood
pressure and pre-hypertension may benefit especially from
following the DASH eating plan and reducing their sodium intake.
Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, La