How to Follow a Vegetarian Dash Diet

The Dash Diet was in the news again today. Not only does it lower blood pressure and cholesterol, researchers have now found that women who follow the Dash Diet have a lower risk of heart failure. Since heart disease is the number one killer of women, it only makes sense to take steps to reduce your risk. A major component of the Dash Diet is reducing meat consumption, making it ideal for adapting to a vegetarian way of life.

The Dash Diet is an eating plan developed by scientists working with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. They found that a diet rich in calcium, potassium and magnesium had a tremendous impact on high blood pressure. A diet rich in this nutrients was achieved by following an eating plan that was low in fat and cholesterol, but rich in vegetables, fruits and low-fat dairy products. The study was called Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension and thus the name Dash Diet.

You can easily start on a vegetarian version of the Dash Diet by slowing changing your eating habits. If you make a few changes each week you can easily switch to this life-long eating plan within a month. Here are my tips for becoming a "dashing vegetarian:"

• Add one serving of fruit to your diet each day until you are eating 4 or 5 servings per day. Dried fruits as well as fresh fruits are acceptable. One small (6 ounce of less) glass of 100% fruit juice can be used as a serving.
• Add one serving of vegetables each day until you are eating 4 or 5 servings each day. Raw and cooked vegetables count. One small (6 ounce or less) glass of low-sodium vegetable juice can be used as a serving. Be careful when cooking vegetables - don't add extra fat (like butter) or salt.
• Increase the whole grains in your diet. Switch white breads for whole grain. Eat brown rice instead of white. Fix more pasta dishes. Eat whole grain breakfast cereals. You need 7 to 8 servings of grains each day.
• Get your protein from plant-based sources. Tofu, seitan and beans are the most readily available. On the traditional Dash Diet, you eat Zero to 2 servings of lean meat each day. On a vegetarian Dash Diet you can substitute tofu, seitan, dried beans (cooked of course), nuts and seeds.
• Switch to low-fat or fat-free dairy products. You can have 2 to 3 servings per day of dairy products, including 8 ounces of milk, a cup of yogurt or 1 ½ ounces of cheese.
• Watch those fats and oils. You'll need to limit your consumption of oils to 2 to 3 teaspoons per day. Use pan sprays for cooking and switch to olive oil for the most health benefits.
• Monitor your sugar intake. Limit yourself to 1 tablespoon of sugar 4 or 5 times per week. You'll have to read packaging on candies, jams and jellies to see how much of a sugar punch they're going to give you.

You can see that if you start a Dash Diet eating plan you're going to get plenty of food. Unlike some diets, you're not going to go around feeling hungry or deprived. Invest in a good vegetarian cookbook or use the Vegetarian Times Web site to find tasty recipes that are easily adapted to the Dash Diet. You can modify just about any recipe to follow the Dash Diet and can substitute vegetarian options in recipes that call for meat.

A few months on the Dash Diet and you'll not only lower your blood pressure, cholesterol and your heart failure risk, you'll probably also find you've dropped a few pounds and have a lot more energy.

Resources:
Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511164559.htm
NHLBI
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/prevent/h_eating/h_eating.htm
Vegetarian Times
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/