The DASH Diet Action Plan: Proven to Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Without Medication

by Marla Heller, Suehyla El-Attar (Narrator)

The DASH Diet Action Plan is a complete guide to lowering blood pressure and cholesterol without medication - through a proven diet, exercise, and weight loss program.

Unlike any diet before it, DASH, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, came out of groundbreaking NIH-funded research. No diet has a medical pedigree like this one - it is the real deal. In fact, medical protocol actually requires doctors to recommend DASH to all patients diagnosed with hypertension or pre-hypertension. And now - finally - the popularity of this diet will have the chance to catch up to its proven efficacy with the program in The DASH Diet Action Plan.

The DASH diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat and nonfat dairy, lean meats, fish, beans, and nuts. It is grounded in healthy eating principles that lower blood pressure; reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer; and support for reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

Written by the foremost dietician trained in DASH, Marla Heller, this book contains a simple, actionable plan that can fit seamlessly into everyone's life and lifestyle. Complete with recipes, meal plans, shopping lists, and more, this comprehensive, proven plan does not rely on magical combinations or forbidden foods - just fabulous, healthy eating!

PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Food, Cookbooks, Cooking, Reference, Self Help

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My cholesterol jumped to 300+, which sent me to my family doctor for advice. After we agreed that I am not keen to start medication, she promptly recommended the DASH Diet. So far, so good.

This is not an easy diet. It is very restrictive (low-fat, low sugar, hardly anything processed), so you have to be willing to cut out a lot of convenient foods. And the diet requires that you have the skills and time to shop and cook most of your meals. Some people complain that it is an expensive diet, but I think cutting out the cost of the junk food more than compensates for the expense of fresh food items.

I purchased a food journal with this book, and that has been very helpful. In the journal, I use the margins to label foods (first fruit of the day = F1; third grain of the day = G3, etc.). This helps me keep on track.

And, I'm making small changes as I learn the diet -- revamping my breakfasts to be DASH specific, and once I've mastered that I will start to really change lunch and/or dinner.

This is an easy book to read. The author is sensible about American eating habits, and gives useful suggestions. It is an easy book to skim as needed, or to read cover to cover.

[Doris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't agree with their recommendations for drinking fruit juice and Wheaties. I think that this is for someone who is beginning to consider their diet and exercise to lower their blood pressure. I would rather eat a whole foods diet, with no processed foods.

[Penny Minding Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eating healthy in my house is can be a struggle. We try and sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail. We've got my daughter starting to try new foods and now it's time for Mom and Dad to catch up! I've heard the about the DASH diet and was interested in learning more about it. We are looking to find a diet that is easy to follow (I hate number crunching), nutritious with food that the picky eaters in my house will eat, contains various health benefits. I am not dietitians or nutritionists so I can't speak on the actual medical benefits, but I will review the book based on it's content.

The book was very easy to understand. After a quick introduction you are given a sample menu to show you what your meals should be looking like...and I can say, this is not a starvation diet! I'm a picky eater and I would say that I would eat the majority of recommended items.

There is a collection of wonderful recipes in the back of the book, including chili, stir-frys, beans and potato fries. The recipes are easy to follow and contained ingredients that could be found in almost any pantry. We tried the Caribbean Chicken and it was delicious.

The book also contains a chapter on reading nutrition labels. This is an area that I always struggle with and the DASH Diet Action Plan book help clarify some of the things (like nutrient composition) that I have never really understood. The book offers ideas on how to stock up your pantry with DASH foods, recommends how to add exercise and make other lifestyle changes to not only lower your blood pressure but improve you health in general.

Overall I found this book really helpful and full of practical common sense information that should help you lower your blood pressure and improve your overall health.

Disclosure: I received the products mentioned above for this review. No monetary compensation was received by me. This is my completely honest opinion above and may differ from yours.

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sensible advice for adapting your eating habits to improve your health. This "diet" focuses on adding healthy foods to your regimen, without the strict restrictions most diet books advise. This is a long-term change in how you eat, not a quick-fix "diet". The tips provide flexibility and explain how you can actually live a life and still make healthier choices.

[Dawn Livingston · Rating 2 out of 5]

I admit to just skimming this book. Also, I had to return it to the library, it was overdo. I have other DASH books to look at.

I've seen tons of other diet books and I didn't read enough of the book to find out how it differs from other diet books. The one main and most important reason I'm interested in the whole DASH diet thing is because my doctor recommended it. Forget all the fad diets she said and go with this one, it's the most tried and tested and sound and maybe that's why it sounds so familiar and so basic. It's the most sound one. The one thing I question is the use of margarine over butter. A nutritionist said to avoid margarine so... have butter in small quantities? Moderation?

I skimmed through the meals it recommends and I felt myself shrivel; sandwiches with no mayo, nectarines (I only like raw apples, pears and mandarin oranges). I can't deal with all the fruit it recommends and the yogurt too. I think it's going to come down to how bad do I want to lose weight. Unfortunately I think at some time I'm going to have to eat fruit and yogurt and skip the mayo (I love mayo!) but I haven't gotten there yet. Best to take what I can manage now and implement it and work at the harder stuff.

I recommend this book because my doctor did and I trust her. I also recommend you look over the other DASH books out there or which there are at least several.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything in this book is common sense. If you eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains plus skip junk food, your blood pressure & cholesterol levels will improve.

[Colorado Nutrition Counseling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great guide for those looking to reduce their blood pressure via the DASH diet. It has everything you need such as specific nutrients with detail and even provides meal plans and recipes to help get you started. I would highly recommend this book for my clients looking to reduce their risk of heart disease.

One thing I would recommend changing is when calculating your calories on page 77, using this specific equation, you should subtract 1000 calories to see results for most people. Most of the time 500 is not enough. However, the section for weight loss strategies overall is great information.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author didn't "invent" the diet, but she's done a great deal to popularize it. I was curious, as it's been decreed the #1 diet in the United States for something like 6 years running. What's it all about?

Fruits, vegetables, lean protein, dairy, and move around more. Nothing new here, slight tweaks of the nutritional exchanges that have been in use by dietitians and diabetics for years, same quantities as illustrated by the USDA pyramid and recommended by the American Heart Association.

A quick read, it provides good structure, recordkeeping forms, and links to other sources (one of which is Miriam Nelson, whose Strong Women series dates back over 20 years and who has advocated a similar eating plan). Same stuff in a new package - just look at all the happy smiling faces on the cover! Every reader hopes to be one of them.

For all the derogatory press, Susan Powter gave good advice and had a sensible tag line - "You've got to eat, you've got to breathe, you've got to move - Stop the insanity!". All true, there is no "magic bullet", just the same product in an updated, shinier package. Still worth a look, though, if you need a fresh start with something that feels different.

[Maike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having just been diagnosed with both, this book offered an easy approach to addressing my issues without resorting to medicine right away. I like the low-key approach to making this a lifestyle rather than a diet, and here menu plans and explanations were straightforward. It did feel a bit dated in that it doesn’t address the more ‘tropical’ ‘superfood’ categories like quinoa and coconut oils that are currently being touted. Fortunately with some research I was able to supplement that information on my own. Overall, this is a great start for anyone who is diagnosed with hypertension and high cholesterol.

[James Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author took her nutritional advice right out of the 80's. It seems a waste to write an entire diet book using outdated concepts like "don't eat fat", "don't eat salt", or "don't eat cholesterol". Any book that tells you to eat margarine over butter has serious problems.

As a side note, the audio book format was not appropriate for the chapters that outlined several weeks of daily suggested menus. There was a later chapter that read out a great many recipes that also got cumbersome to hear.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is short and quick to read. Much of the basic information is found in more than one place in the book, making it easy to review and remember. I felt that just when I had a question, the subject was addressed in the next paragraph. There are menus for 28 days, along with many recipes. The menus are very easy to use because the author has information for those who are aiming for 2000 calories a day for health, or 1600 or 1200 calories for health and weight loss. The author includes enough of the reasons behind the plan to keep me engaged.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frankly, the amount of carbohydrates this book recommends scares the heck out of me and I have a difficult time understanding how following this to a T would improve the health of someone with metabolic syndrome or someone who is diabetic.

That being said, this does seem to be a very doable plan for the long-term and is a good representation of the conventional advice for improving one's health.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped changed my life and my frame of mind. I am really glad I read it.

[Garry Bacon]

Great book

Loved it. Loved it!!!!!!!!! Loved it. Great book. Very good information on diet I would share this book with friends.

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way outdated. Read her newer one, instead: The DASH Diet Mediterranean Solution

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

[April Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part of this book was the meal plan. The high level of detail there is helpful. When I started reading the planned meals, I was excited to find how delicious they sounded, but as I read on, the food started to feel more repetitive than I hoped. I don't know what magical plan I was hoping for, but I didn't expect the plan to rely so much on artificially sweetened yogurt and frozen yogurt (I thought artificial sweeteners weren't actually recommended by most experts because of the potential for negative health effects like increasing cravings for sweets). Artificially sweetened hot cocoa and gelatin were also on the plan a couple times each. Real sugar is allowed in moderation, like the occasional donut, cookie, muffin, or peach-mustard glazed pork chop. Highly processed foods like veggie dogs, veggie burgers, veggie sausage, and deli meat are also on the plan occasionally, even though they are so high in sodium, which is an exception to the general DASH recommendations. I was surprised that DASH requires you to drink juice daily. Daily juice at breakfast doesn't seem like a great idea to me; wouldn't it spike your blood sugar too much all at once with all those grains and skim milk that are also recommended? Wouldn't that especially be the case in some of the absolutely tiny breakfasts, like Week 2 Friday: 1 gram of Cheerios (which is 1 cup, 100 calories), a banana, a glass of juice, and 8 oz skim milk. (Is that really a healthy breakfast? Maybe breakfast is the time people can handle a blood sugar spike, and maybe that's what's necessary to get an extra serving of fruit on the menu each day?) So, artificial sweeteners, refined sugar, processed foods, and juice are all part of the plan; on the one hand, it's appealing to follow a diet where there are "no forbidden foods" because it's flexible and easy. On the other hand, I'm not a particularly picky eater, and I'm a Seeker of the Perfect Diet. Maybe it would be too unrealistic to include plain yogurt instead of artificially sweetened yogurt, tofu instead of a veggie dog, and an extra serving of whole fruit instead of juice. Still, overall, the meal plan looked pretty good to me, taste-wise, and it's helpful how it's put together for the different target food group servings and caloric intakes.

The tips throughout the book were helpful: tips for eating out, portion control, calculating your target caloric intake, exercise, tracking your progress, and just setting yourself up for success, all given clearly and even with some humor. I loved how specific everything was. In writing the first draft of my review, I found myself getting defensive and making criticisms like "the section on eating out didn't feature cuisines from around the globe!" Really, there's a lot of useful, common-sense advice in this book if I would just be humble enough to receive it.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A straightforward book packed with sensible and easily implemented advice about ways in which to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. My only criticisms would be that it doesn’t address the problem of lactose intolerance other than to say use lactose free products which I have found personally ineffective in combatting the symptoms that come up with dairy, though dairy is an important part of the diet. I found little use for the recipes in the back of the book as I also have an intolerance to tomatoes and many of the recipes were tomato based which I found mildly disappointing. Overall though an informative and easily used guide to introducing heart healthy foods and habits that can contribute to lower BP,cholesterol levels and weight loss.

[DragonCodes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a good read, easy to follow and understand. Some recipes and exercise recommendations. Recommend by my GP Doctor's office. Not much else has worked, so trying this as it's different and more realistic goal wise.

[Lorraine Harrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is extremely helpful. As I was reading a coworker was diagnosed with High Bllod pressure. Now that I am done I will be lending the book to him.
This is very descriptive and has goals to lead you throughout the way along with actual menus.

[Verla F Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Verlafgardner43@gmail.com

Author has done considerable research and even managed a sense of humor. There is a variety of info to send anyone's head swimming.

[Ashley Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be pretty helpful to my non-scientific mind as my husband is dealing with pre-hypertension. I especially likes the forms that are available online!

[Brad Trademark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful as to the steps of DASH diet and meal prep.

[Lori Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a scary bout with high blood pressure, this program lowered it almost immediately!

[Sharon Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book suffer from high bp and was in the ER this week.. Doctor recommended the Dash Diet and I could get the book fast enough !

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quickly went through this book. Informative with recipes and meal ideas. Especially liked tips for eating out.

[Wes Marner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one to prepare for a study that I'm going to be a part of. Perfectly fine book for the genre.

[Marci · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd read another of Heller's DASH diet books previously, so this one contained no surprises, but sometimes one is reading this type of book for the reminder to keep going down the path you're on.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information about the DASH diet and how it helps to lower cholesterol. Contains a decent amount of recipes and a meal plan.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great advice for eating a well balanced diet. One of the few "diets" supported by the USDA.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not reviewing this book. I am merely recording as it a book I read. I was assigned to read this book. I followed its guidance, and I have to say that in 6 weeks of trying my best to abide by its precepts, I have truly lost weight. 17 lbs. of it. I will hold for the applause and praise. That said, this diet, er, uh, eating plan, is hard for me. I love flavor, and I just don't feel like this diet provides enough of it. I like most of the foods and recipes it suggests, but after a few days, even weeks, they begin to feel the same. It becomes bland. Part of that is my fault, being a creature of habit to some extent, learning a recipe and sticking with it to avoid straying outside the lines hasn't helped with my variety. I guess this is more of a journal entry for me, than a book review. I have 8 more weeks of strict eating plan ahead, and after that I plan to follow the guidance, but not so strictly. In regards to the book, it spells out the plan very well, lays down the science only moderately, and provides great real world examples and recipes that are easy to follow. The book is very repetitive, but the author warns of that several times (which adds to the repetition). Anyway, if you want to be less fat, and do not have other options, this book is a great starter. Motivation not included.