DASH Diet is still the best Diet for 2014

U.S. News has named DASH Diet as the top diet for 2014 among 32 diet plans. The categories for ranking are; easy to follow, nutritious, safe and effective for weight loss and against diabetes and heart disease.

Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) is endorsed by the government and its purpose is to reduce people with high blood pressure. It was also recommended to prevent and control diabetes and my help protect people from osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

TLC Diet took the 2nd spot it was created by the National Institutes of Health, while Mayo Clinic Diet is 3rd.

Please before following a Diet Plan always remember you should first consult your healthcare provider.

DASH Diet Overview:

Your AIM: prevent and lower high blood pressure (hypertension).

Following a healthy eating habit is key to lowering high blood pressure and in the process it will also reduce your waistline.

Nutrients like potassium, calcium, protein, and fiber are very important in fighting high blood pressure. You don’t need to track each one. Just take the foods you’ve always been told to eat like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy, while passing up on those food that we ussually like, foods with high calorie and fat, sweets and red meat. You also need to cut your salt intake.

If you are ready to be healthy you can use this FREE DASH Diet guide from The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) here:

PDF DASH Diet guide 64 pages
PDF Brief DASH Diet 6 pages

TIPS:

*Eat Lean poultry and Fish moderately it's low in fat and has good cholesterol to protect your heart.
*Use herbs, spices or lemon zest to season your food instead of salt.
*Eat more vegetables and whole grain foods they are rich in fiber, calcium, protein and potassium that are important to help lower high blood pressure.
*If you want sweets, skip desserts and take fruits instead.

Italianni's

Diet soda = larger waistlines

SAN JOSE, Calif. — No good deed goes unpunished, and that seems to include people who virtuously reach for diet sodas instead of the calorie-laden good stuff.

Before guzzling that artificially sweetened beverage in a haze of guilt-free carbonation, bear in mind that your diet soda may only be adding to your bottom line — or your waistline. At least that's the conclusion of a recently completed 12-year study.

The study looked at 474 people, ages 65 to 74, and found that, on average, those who drank diet sodas ended up with waistlines that increased three times more than those who avoided them.

As the ones that you work on training get stronger, the neglected ones get weaker which included people who drank water, juices and even regular sodas, said Helen Hazuda, chief of clinical epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, and one of the study's investigators.

These results were comparable to similar studies in younger people, said Hazuda.

Belmont, Calif., resident Karen Krebser, 46, has been drinking diet soda since high school in an effort to help manage her weight. "I'm currently mostly off refined sugar and have tried a zillion different diets, but the one constant has been diet soda," she said.

Krebser consumes three or four cans a day since she gave up refined sugar in April. But after hearing about this unpublished study — presented at the American Diabetes Association Conference in June — she threw out the can of diet soda sitting on her desk.

There isn't a single explanation as to why drinks with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose or saccharin result in us having to squeeze our bulging bellies into larger pants.

Part of the reason could be psychological, Hazuda said. Some people splurge on calories in their food because they're saving on calories in their drinks. Think Big Macs and super-sized fries and diet Cokes.

Another factor Hazuda thinks plays a role in expanding waistlines is something called taste dysfunction. Because artificial sweeteners taste hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than regular sugar, our bodies come to expect sugary foods to be extremely sweet. So we start to seek out more sugar-laden options.

A third explanation is that our bodies are smarter than we think. When we suck down sweet things, our bodies register the sugary taste and wait for the accompanying calories, said Lillian Castillo, a public health dietitian with the Santa Clara (Calif.) County Public Health Department.

But with artificial sweeteners, our bodies don't get the calories they expect, so we start to crave foods high in fat and sugar. Santa Clara resident Karl Watanabe has consumed diet sodas since his wife started buying them exclusively three years ago. But it hasn't really affected his weight, he said. "Of course, it helps that I run marathons and do triathlons all the time."

"Once in a while, it's OK to have one," Castillo said. "But water is the only thing that's going to quench your thirst."

If water is just too bland, Castillo and Hazuda recommended adding slices of lemon or cucumber to brighten the flavor.

It may take a couple months for your brain to adjust to the different flavors, but the research suggests if you want those six-pack abs, it doesn't look as if you'll be able to find them at the bottom of a six-pack of diet soda.

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