Luke’s doctor suggested he go on the DASH diet to lower his blood pressure. Turns out, it is pretty good for weight loss too. So we’re gonna try it.
What is the DASH diet?
Put simply the DASH diet is a balanced diet that uses fruit, vegetables, and whole grains as a foundation. It’s not gluten free, so I’m not sure how keen Luke will be to make the switch (and it includes lots of foods he might be allergic to) but it is supposedly ranked as the nation’s number 1 diet.
Thinking about a diet in terms of a pyramid is helpful for me, probably because its so familiar to the food pyramids they used so much when I was a kid. But sometimes a pie chart is more intuitive:
What I like about this new diet is that its not especially restrictive. Or, put differently, there are about as many proscriptions as restrictions. It doesn’t cut anything out entirely but focuses on moderation. That’s not to say it won’t be a challenge. The hardest things for us are probably going to getting all those fruits and vegetables and continuing to curb sugar and fat. Fortunately, I’ve already been focused on sugar so I feel like I’ve got a head start.
Scratch that. The hardest thing for us will probably be planning our meals and snacks until we get used to it…
Boom Goes the Dynamite 