At a time when people are spending millions of dollars on diet books and workout tapes, one of the best weight loss plans is available from our government absolutely free. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has had their top researchers working on a diet that will lower high blood pressure and help people shed pounds. It has been shown to have irrefutable results.
The DASH plan stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, it was originally designed for people who were suffering from high blood pressure but further research shows the fundamentals of a low sodium diet can help anyone who is overweight. The diet is one that is based on multiple servings each day of fruits and vegetables along with low fat milk. It is based on the food pyramid developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
NIH researchers found that Americans have eating too much red meat as well as food and beverages with added sugar. This diet cuts most of those things out and encourages consumption of fish, poultry and whole grains. For a person consuming 2000 calories per day, the DASH diet calls for 27% of the calories to come from fat and 18% from protein. It also limits sodium intake to 2300mg and fiber to 30mg each day.
A typical day on this diet might include a breakfast of 3/4 cup of bran flakes cereal, a medium banana, 1 cup low fat milk, 1 slice of whole wheat toast with a teaspoon of margarine and 1 cup of orange juice. For lunch the NIH recommends; 3/4 cut chicken salad with two pieces of whole wheat bread plus a salad of cucumber slices and tomato wedges. Dinner would include 3 ounces of beef, 1 cup of green beans, a small baked potato, whole wheat roll and 1 cup of low fat milk. Snacks during the day of nuts and yogurt can be added to hit the 2000 calorie target.
More meals are suggested at the National Institutes of Health website. The NIH also recommends starting an exercise program to go along with the DASH diet to improve your overall health and speed up the weight loss.
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