The DASH Diet for Every Day: 4 Weeks of DASH Diet Recipes & Meal Plans to Lose Weight & Improve Health Paperback – January 10, 2014

I recently ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in a while – she had lost about 20 pounds and looked fantastic. She told me she did the DASH diet, which I had never heard of – so I got this book to learn more about it. Reading about this diet plan, it sounds pretty easy to follow. And since you get to eat all throughout the day, you avoid overeating at meal time.This is kind of like two books in one – the first part is the pep talk and education. The second part is the meal plan and recipes. Unlike most cookbooks, this gives more than just calorie counts – it also tells you the sodium. So if you are trying to reduce your sodium intake, this book is extremely helpful. I don’t personally have a problem with blood pressure (yet) but have had family members that did, so I try to be aware of what I eat.What’s nice about this book is it tells you both the foods to avoid, and the foods to keep on hand. It also gives you a list of food prep/storage items you’ll need. I also liked that it gave a description of the different cooking techniques you will need, so you do not need to be a gourmet cook to follow this meal plan. Everything is easy to prepare.

At the heart of the DASH diet (whose acronym stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) authors tout the broad health benefits including, perhaps most obviously, reduced blood pressure and diminished cholesterol levels, marked by prospectively significant weight-loss results. It is duly and intermittently noted that this specific diet is more than a combatant of hypertension - by appealing to any and all folks looking for a health boost and/or to shed a few pounds.DASH diet involves consciously balanced meal methods by incorporating adequate portions from all food groups (veggies, seafood, poultry, low-fat dairy, etc.) and eliminating any and all processed foods (yes, that includes Weight Watcher TV dinners and the trusty “point value system”). The book also provides extensive guidelines including how to transition into the diet and how to go about maintaining an awareness and commitment to the dietary lifestyle.More specifically, authors propose a responsible approach to meals and snacks, asserting that in order to circumvent overindulging in high caloric food intakes (fats, sugars, etc.), effectively spoiling any progress, habitual “meal planning” and mindful grocery shopping can pave the way to ensured success and healthy dietary accountability. Additionally, the book’s lengthy recipe and meal segment is mouth-watering in its yummy abundance, ranging from “Blueberry and Oat Pancakes” in the AM, to “Baked BBQ Chicken” with a side of “Jalapeno Cornbread” for dinner - and topping the day off with “Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Squares” for dessert!However a couple of the prominently featured “reasons” to embrace the DASH diet are not entirely accurate – specifically highlights claiming “It’s [a] free [diet regimen requiring no membership or classes] and “It’s [monetarily] risk free”. The truth of the matter is that many people stock up on convenient processed frozen meals in lieu of fresh (and/or organic) vegetables, fruits, lean meats and seafood due to the increasingly high cost of these same nutritiously ideal options in which the DASH diet is founded on. In spite of this, I ultimately agree that spending a few extra bucks on what you’re consuming is a great investment for improved health.

With so many books on the market promoting weight loss with either going on a very limited calorie diet , gluten free diet or extensive workout exercises. Those books just didn’t cut it out for me. But this book did! The DASH diet wasn’t invented as weight-loss program, but as a tool for loosing weight. It was ranked after all as the “Best Overall Diet” by the U.S. News & World Report. Developed by a group of researchers that include experts from elite institutions such as Harvard Medical School , John Hopkins, and more. Funded by the National Institutes of Health. The DASH diet’s goal is to design a diet that helps people suffering from hypertension to lower their blood pressure and DASH does so brilliantly. The DASH Diet for Every Day will help you incorporate the DASH diet into your daily routine to help you get to a healthy weight With its dozen of simple recipes, and easy meal plan. The DASH diet will help you see amazing results that are beneficial to your health.

I received of this book as a sample for my honest review although I was interested in the topic from the beginning. After reading through the first part of the book where the diet is explained (pretty good explanation) and all of the types of food and kitchen appliances you will need, I felt that the intended audience for this book was for a novice who may be currently be eating some percentage of their diet from processed foods. What's the reason to eat processed foods, anyway? They are quick, and easy, and they will satisfy you (if only temporary). However, this book fails to really speak to this audience who desire quick and easy foods and tries to sell them on long, complicated recipes. But the recipes are long enough that I would have to spend a great deal of time on cooking rather than on other important tasks (and also count in the cleaning you will have to do after using various appliances. Therefore, I'm not sure how many people will be actually able to follow through with the entire plan, unless you've got some time on your hands.I like that the book explains a lot of cooking terms, but pictures might explain it faster, especially for those who want to confirm what they read, or just see if they understand the term already based on the picture.One good thing is the tips given in some recipes - I learned how to cut steak to make it tender and not tough!Ultimately recommended for those who are very (if not extremely) motivated to take control of their high blood pressure and start eating right.