what is the dash diet
It’s about time! The DASH diet has already been named the “Best Overall Diet” and the “Healthiest Diet” by U.S. News & World Report. Now The DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution turns it into America’s best weight loss diet, as well. This plan is specifically designed to supercharge weight loss, giving you the boost you need to achieve your goals quickly, easily, and with results that will last. The health benefits of the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet are well known. It lowers blood pressure in 14 days. It lowers cholesterol and improves brain function. People who follow the DASH diet have lower rates of heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and some types of cancer, including BRCA-negative breast cancer. Additionally, people who follow the DASH eating plan are less likely to develop diabetes or kidney stones. The DASH diet has been one of the best-kept secrets for healthy eating. And now, previously overlooked research provides the foundation for enhanced weight loss results. Based on scientific evidence, and the real-world success I’ve personally seen with hundreds of clients, the program The DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution attacks weight loss with the same efficiency and effectiveness that it attacks our nation’s leading health problems. With this book, you can deploy DASH to help you reach and maintain a healthy weight. You are already reading this book, so we know you are interested in reaching and maintaining a healthier weight. And you have chosen a diet plan that will actually make you healthier as you move toward your goal. Many quick weight loss plans are very difficult to follow in normal, active life. Or the plans are great for initiating weight loss, but they aren’t sustainable and wouldn’t be healthy if you did sustain them for any period of time. The DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution is a plan that you and your family can follow in the long run. In fact, it is based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. It is a two-phase plan guaranteed to boost weight loss. Phase One is a two-week transition to reset your metabolism. This protein-rich eating plan will keep you satisfied longer and will help jump-start your weight loss, resulting in fast, visible results. Phase Two includes whole grains and fruits, as well as lots of nonstarchy vegetables and lean proteins, and will help you continue to lose weight. In addition to looking and feeling better, you will also improve your cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure. The results have been proven and the research backs it up. You will also find detailed meal plans, pantry stocking advice, grocery shopping tips—and dozens of delicious recipes to incorporate into your diet.
What has the research shown?
Over 67% of Americans are overweight or obese. And excess weight is not just a cosmetic problem. The yearly direct health care costs for obesity hit $147 billion in 2008, accounting for almost 10% of all health care costs in the United States. On average, someone who is obese spends $1,500 per year extra for medical care than someone of healthy weight. What are some of the health problems that are more common in people who carry too much weight? Health issues can include hypertension (high blood pressure); type 2 diabetes; joint problems; sleep apnea; coronary heart disease; elevated cholesterol and triglycerides; certain types of cancer; stroke; gall bladder; and liver diseases. And extra weight by itself is limiting. Imagine picking up a 40-pound bag of dog food and carrying it around all day. Then visualize how good it will feel to set down the extra 40 pounds you have been hefting. The same thing will be true in real life when you drop your excess weight. All of your routine tasks will feel easier—and you will become more active. Now you can take advantage of this supercharged version of the DASH diet to boost weight loss, especially the muffin top fat that is associated with increased risk for heart disease and diabetes. In the old days, we talked about apple body shapes being more unhealthful than the pear body shapes. Belly fat, beer bellies, visceral fat, android fat, and muffin top are just different words for people who carry much of their excess weight around the middle. This type of fat is associated with higher risks for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and some kinds of cancer. Over the past two decades, much has been learned about why this belly fat is different from other fat, and what kind of eating patterns are associated with it. The main culprits? Taking in more carbs than we can burn off, and having less metabolically active muscle. In this book we will target both of these problems, getting you unhooked from a carbheavy diet, and helping you to increase your metabolism by preserving and strengthening muscles. No, we aren’t massively bulking up (relax, ladies), but you will become leaner and more toned. You can reduce bad cholesterol and triglycerides while boosting good cholesterol. And perhaps most important for many people, the lower-starch version of the DASH diet can reduce the risk of developing diabetes or improve your ability to control your diabetes and slow the progression of the disease. All of this comes with reduced inflammation and oxidative stress. Back in the 1990s, the prevailing healthy eating advice recommended high intake of carbs—maybe that was the past decade. It also recommended a very low fat intake and held that most people were consuming too much protein. What happened as a result of this advice? The “diabesity epidemic” (a coined term to reflect the interaction of diabetes and obesity) took hold and led to massive increases in poor health and health care costs. To be more specific, in 1988, 26% of the population was obese, and by 2008, 40%
were obese. The yearly costs of the related diseases are about $150 billion for obesity, $157 billion for diabetes, and $445 billion for heart disease. This is an overwhelming burden for our health care system. It is time for us to turn these statistics around and make ourselves healthier. In this book we will help you take advantage of newer research regarding the benefits of reduced intake of refined grains and added sugars, the need for higher than previously recommended levels of protein, and strategies for preparing meals and snacks that are satisfying and actually help to curb hunger. And fortunately, these new concepts actually conform to the strategies from the forgotten lower-carb DASH study. Why wasn’t this newer information immediately pursued? It was very difficult for the traditional medical establishment to accept that their high-grain, low-fat, limited-protein diet recommendations were wrong, and were, in fact, doing great harm to the collective health of our country. The combined benefits of the newer concepts for healthy eating, presented here, will help you find the easy way to lose weight, especially that muffin top. Even better, you will do this while learning an easy-to-sustain healthy way to eat. Most fad diets promise quick weight loss. The DASH Diet Weight Loss Solution is great for speeding up weight loss. But we also show you how to become healthier in the process. And it is a plan you can all follow for a lifetime! In the next chapter, you will learn more about why the plan works. Before moving forward, take a moment to assess your health goals. Where are you now and where do you want to be? Having a goal will help you to succeed—and you will be amazed by how quickly and easily you will meet your targets once you are living the DASH lifestyle.
