Dash diet menu – what can you eat?

In DASH diet menu there is almost every kind of food that man can eat. There is no rules about avoiding meat or carbohydrates. The most important thing is to avoid salt, processed food (they contain a lot of it) and the overall of fat. The food is parted into several categories in the dash menu.

Red meat, white bread, pasta and rice are allowed very rarely. Dairy products and supplements of calcium should be eaten not often, only a little more frequently than the category upon. Fish, eggs and poultry are permitted twicely for a day. Nuts and legumes should be eaten at least once a day and no more than three times a day. The most important are vegetables – you can eat them without any limit and fruits – twice or thrice at a day. Every meal should consist of the whole grain products. If it goes for fat – only plant fats are permitted, such as olive oil, soybean oil, sunflower or rapeseed oil. The alcohol is not included in the dash eating plan, unless your physician allows you to drink.

The DASH diet daily menu should be based on a 2,000-calorie diet but the servings could be changed, if you want to lose your weight. Of course, this dash menu has only educational character. If it goes for servings, there are six to even eight servings of whole grain products allowed, such as bread, pastas and similar. It is better to prepare without using fat and, of course, salt. If you cannot imagine your meal without it, try to add them just a bit. Daily you should also eat four to five servings of vegetables and fruits. The first category is rich in fiber, which helps you digest, magnesium and potassium. Of course, fresh fruits and vegetables are the best, but others (like canned) are not forbidden. However, you cannot eat one can of apricots for example – one serving corresponds with 170 g of fruit juice, 1 average fruit, a quarter of cube of dried fruits, or a half of cube of fresh, freezed or canned fruits. You should not forget about dairy products. At least eat two to three servings daily. But remember that they should be low- or non-fat. One serving is like one cup of yoghurt or forty gramms of hard cheese. Meat and fish can be eaten six times a day – 90 gramms of each of it, or 1 egg. It should be prepared without skin, baked or grilled, of course without fat. Four or five times a week the nuts, seeds and legumes can be consumed. They are a valuable source of magnesium, proteins and fiber. A proper serving would consist of forty gramms of nuts, fifteen gramms of sunflower seed or a half of cup of lentil. Only twicely to three times a day there is allowed consumption of fats. The servings should be for example like one teaspoon of mayonnaise or margarine. Sweets can be eaten only five times each week. Putting sugar into coffee or tea is not recommended. As you may easily see, the weight loss is only a matter of time if you are taking up the dash diet. It could be a strong advantage of this menu. But, if you are not concerned about it, you can also raise up your servings – but be aware, that your results will not be as good as they could be holding strictly the original dash menu.

21.06.2010. 09:35