Melody Ambers - 28-Day Hearty Dash Diet Meal Plan & Recipes

28-Day Hearty
Dash Diet Meal Plans & Recipes Over 80 recipes For Weight Loss, Blood Pressure Reduction And Diabetes Prevention Melody Ambers Copyright 2014 by Melody Ambers All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law Table of Contents

These days, it is dangerous to consume anything and everything that appeals to you. It is no longer just about being overweight anymore. A whole lot of health related issues like diabetes and hypertension are now on a frightening increase. It is reported that 1 in 3 Americans are hypertensive while one third are pre-hypertensive. 8.3% of people in the US have diabetes, 95% of these cases are type 2 diabetes affecting mostly children and teenagers while 79 million adults have pre-diabetes.

Enough of this gruesome statistics! The good news however is that by following the dash recipes, the risk of having high blood pressure will be lowered. An already elevated BP as well as an overweight body will also be significantly reduced. Dash is an acronym that stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It is a product of scientific research from the National Institutes of Health. It also has the support of the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. It is an established method to gain sound health and lose weight.

It is the one-stop diet plan to help in managing diabetes. Dash recipes simply entail the consumption of lots of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, poultry, fish and nuts. Sugary beverages, red meats and sweets are featured in limited quantities. With the dash eating plan, cholesterol and saturated fat is limited while the focus is on the increase of the consumption of nutrients such as fiber, protein and minerals like calcium, potassium and magnesium. DASH menus that contains 2,300 milligrams of sodium helps to lower blood pressure and 1,500 milligrams of sodium in dash menus lowers it even further. This means the lower your salt consumption, the lower your blood pressure.

Although initially designed for individuals with hypertension, the DASH diet is presently recommended for anyone who wants to stay healthy. How To Manage High Blood Pressure Maintain a healthy body weight:

• Choose low -fat foods and eat smaller portions.
• Increase dietary fiber. Get 25- 35 grams of fiber every day.
• Conduct regular exercises. To maintain weight, carry out 30 minutes of daily aerobic exercise. To lose weight, carry out 60 minutes of aerobic exercise 4-5times in a week.

Eat more foods high in potassium, fiber and magnesium:

• Eat 4-5 servings a day of whole fresh fruit & 5 daily servings of vegetables. cup cooked or one cup raw= 1 servings.
• Include peas, nuts, dried beans and seeds about four times in a week for magnesium, potassium and fiber.
• Choose citrus fruit 3ce in a week for fiber and potassium.

Eat more foods that contain lots of calcium:

• Choose fat-free or low-fat cheese and yogurts.

  Use Lactaid or lactose-reduced milk if you are lactose intolerant.

Cut down on the sodium in your meals:

• Select fresh foods.
• Do not add salt at the table. Use spices and herbs more.
• Reduce canned soups and frozen dinners with sauces.
• Avoid cured, pickled or smoked foods.
• reduce your consumption of luncheon meats such as bologna, processed turkey, corned beef, ham, pastrami and salami

Reduce caffeine:

• Choose decaffeinated tea, coffee and diet sodas.
• Do not take more than two caffeinated beverages daily even if you do have one.
• Do not take medications that contains caffeine

Drink enough fluids

• Drink at least eight cups of water every day.

Quit smoking

• If you cannot, reduce the numbers of smoked cigarettes
• Discuss with your doctor.

Take medication as directed by your doctor

• Consult your doctor if you discover any side-effects

Guidelines For Following These Dash Recipes These dash recipes below are based on a calorie diet of 1800 to 2000 they are also based on 1 serving.

• DO NOT use salt even if included in the recipe.
• When having a pasta dish, select whole wheat pasta in place of regular pasta.
• Meals and snacks should be taken 2.5 to 3 hours apart. Do not exceed 4 hours.
• Cooked vegetables must either be steamed, grilled, baked or boiled, NEVER fried.
• Depending on the season, changes may be made to the vegetables and fruits recommendation.
• Substitute whole wheat flour for refined flour or all purpose flour when demanded by recipe.
• If you are using package products, ensure that label reads less than 10 grams of sugar and fat per serving and less than 300 mg of sodium

Be sure to consume at least

• 4 servings of vegetables/fruits daily
• about 3 servings of whole grains daily
• about 2 to 3 servings of dairy daily

Sample Meal Schedule Breakfast-8:00 AM Morning snack-10:30 AM Lunch-12:00 PM Afternoon snack-3:30 PM Dinner-7:00 PM Breakfast

• cup of regular oatmeal with 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 mini whole wheat bagel
• 1 medium-sized banana
• 1 cup of low-fat milk
• 1 tbsp of peanut butter

Lunch Chicken breast 2 slices (3 oz) Whole wheat bread (2 slices) Swiss cheese, reduced fat natural, low sodium (1 slice or 3/4 oz) 1 large leaf romaine lettuce 2 slices of tomato 1 tbsp of mayonnaise 1 cup of cantaloupe 1 cup of apple juice Dinner

• Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce
• 3 tbsp of Parmesan cheese
• Spinach salad
• 1 cup of spaghetti

Ingredients: Olive oil (2 tbsp) Small chopped onions (2) Chopped cloves garlic (3) Sliced zucchini (11/4 cups) Dried oregano (1 tbsp) Dried basil (1 tbsp) Tomato sauce (8-oz can) 6-oz can of no-salt-added tomato paste. 2 medium chopped tomatoes 1 cup of water Preparation:

1. In a medium skillet, heat oil. Saut onions, garlic and zucchini in oil for 5 minutes on medium heat.
2. Add remaining ingredients and simmer covered for 45 minutes.
3. Serve over spaghetti.

Fresh spinach leaves (1 cup) Grated fresh carrots (1/4 cup) Sliced fresh mushrooms (1/4 cup) Cooked corn, previously frozen ( cup) cup of canned pears, juice pack Snacks

• 1/4 cup of dried apricots
• 1/3 cup of almonds
• 1 cup of fat free, no sugar fruit yogurt

Nutrients Per Day Calories-2,078 Total fat-68 g Saturated fat-16 g Cholesterol-129 mg Sodium-1,560 mg Calcium-1,334 mg Potassium-4,721 mg Magnesium-542 mg Fiber-34 g Number Of Servings Per Day Grains: 6, Vegetables: 5, Fruits: 7, Dairy Foods: 3 Breakfast

• Regular oatmeal cereal ( cup) with cinnamon cereal (1 tsp)
• Medium-sized banana (1)
• Fat-free, no sugar fruit yogurt ( cup)
• Low-fat milk (1 cup)

Lunch

• Tuna salad sandwich
• 1 medium apple
• Low-fat milk (1 cup)

Ingredients: Tuna (drained &rinsed, cup) Low-fat mayonnaise (1 tbsp) Romaine lettuce (1 large leaf) Tomato (2 slices) Whole wheat bread (2 slices) Preparation:

1. Use a fork to break the rinsed and drained tuna apart.
2. Add lettuce, mayonnaise and tomato.

   Mix well.

3. Combine ingredients together and then place inside bread

Dinner

• Zucchini Lasagna
• Salad
• 1 cup of grape juice

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