DASH Diet Recipes To Avoid

This article will  help you recognize DASH diet recipes that you should avoid.

The reason I am frustrated is because a lot of reputable websites misrepresent the DASH diet. They post recipes that don’t pass the DASH diet requirements because they contain too much sugar.  You might think a blood pressure diet is all about Sodium, but it has a strict restriction on sugar, too.

Guess what happens? You buy books, you cook new foods, you work hard, you suffer, but  you don’t follow the DASH diet to the letter. Will it surprise you that you might not get the results you expected?

Your blood pressure just won’t go down… You won’t lose weight.

So, why do they do this?

Partly, because it is harder to post delicious recipes that allow for less sugar than we are used to. But here is another reason: they may not believe that you will be willing to accept the dietary restrictions required to lower blood pressure.

Here is a jaw-dropping example:

In one survey, cardiologists were asked what they believed would help heart attack survivors, and what they actually prescribed. The majority  of doctors said that changes in the diet would help, but only half of them actually prescribed these changes.

Why? Because they thought that patients wouldn’t believe them or wouldn’t follow their recommendations.

I prefer to be told the truth, without the sugar-coating. I want to make my own choices. What about you?

How to detect recipes you need to avoid

I cannot list every wrong recipe that sugar-coats the DASH diet. But I can show you how to determine whether the recipe passes the DASH diet test.

All you have to know is how much sugar you are allowed per day.

You are allowed 5 or less tablespoons of sugar per week!  To make it easy, this is one or less teaspoon of sugar per day. Check out the source if you don’t believe me.

Knowing this makes it easy to examine recipes.

1. Locate sugar, molasses, or honey in the ingredient list.
2. Divide the amount of sugar in the recipe by the number of portions.
3. If the recipe uses more than 1 teaspoon, don’t use it. It doesn’t comply with DASH.
4. If the recipe uses exactly this amount, remember that all other meals and drinks for the day must be sugar free.
5. You can still try to replace sugar with stevia. But now you need to examine the rest of the ingredients. If the recipe doesn’t meet one requirement, how can you trust that it meets the others?
6. If the recipe calls for artificial sweeteners, I am not using it (for this reason). It’s up to you to decide what you want to do with it.

Google DASH recipes and see for yourself why I get so frustrated.

P.S. By the way, check out my list of DASH-friendly and unfriendly breakfast foods.

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