5 Ways DASH Diet Boosts Weight Loss

By: Mehvish A.
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.

As the name suggests this diet was designed with the aim of modifying diet in order to reduce blood pressure.

Research shows that DASH can significantly reduce blood pressure and cholesterol as well as improve the effect of anti-hypertensive drugs.

DASH diet involves eating lots of fruit and vegetables, low-fat dairy, nuts, and fibre rich foods; which is why scientists felt this diet could be helpful in losing weight and improving metabolic health.

DASH diet in combination with calorie reduction and exercise aids in reducing blood pressure better and losing weight.

What is the DASH Diet Approach for Weight Loss?

The DASH diet involves two phases:

Phase I

During the first 14 days you have to cut down on sugar and starchy foods like fruits, whole grains, alcohol. This helps in regulating blood sugar and controlling cravings.

You can still have leafy greens, low-fat dairy, lean meats, poultry, fish and healthy fats like nuts, olive oil etc.

The protein content of this diet boosts your metabolism and promotes weight loss.

Phase II

After the first 14 days, you continue to eat foods of the first phase and reintroduce foods like fuits and whole grains in a manner that it supports weight loss.

This phase lasts forever; in other words, it is a permanent addition to your lifestyle.

The DASH diet focuses on maintaining blood sugar levels.

Maintenance of blood sugar levels helps in improving insulin sensitivity, reducing abdominal fat and cravings, reducing cholesterol and blood lipids and reducing diabetes risk.

It also incorporates protein in order to support a healthy weight loss without loss of muscle mass and preventing slowing down of metabolism.

In the DASH diet you are not required to focus on any particular food group; you just have to eat more of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy.

So like the conventional notion of ‘diet’, you don’t have to starve yourself or go on extreme calorie reduction.

What are the core components of DASH diet?

This is what the DASH diet is made up of:

Lowering carbohydrates

The low proportion of carbs helps in reducing hunger and the inclusion of fruits, vegetables, and other filling foods help in promoting satiety.

Additionally, avoiding starchy foods helps in regulating blood sugar, reducing cholesterol and blood lipids, reduction of abdominal fat and overall improvement in metabolic health.

The high fruit and vegetable content of DASH diet makes it more effective than mineral supplements in reducing hypertension in obese individuals.

Inclusion of protein

Protein-rich foods are satisfying and do not affect blood sugar levels.

They boost metabolism, prevent loss of muscle mass during weight loss and control hunger.

The inclusion of heart-healthy fats

Heart-healthy fats like nuts and olive oil promote satiety.

They slow down digestion and reduce the rate at which blood sugar spikes thus ensuring a healthy metabolism. Healthy fats like omega3 are essential for brain health.

Rich in minerals

The DASH diet is rich in minerals like potassium, magnesium, calcium, fibre and has a low content of sodium.

This helps in maintaining electrolyte balance in the body which indirectly helps in reducing blood pressure.

Also, overweight or obese individuals suffer from nutritional deficiencies.

This diet helps in restoring nutrient balance in obese individuals and improves their metabolic health.

However this diet focuses on reducing sodium. The daily recommended allowance of sodium is 2300mg.

Phase I of the diet limits sodium intake to 2300mg a day and Phase II reduces sodium to 1500mg.