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1. The DASH Diet has been awarded the "best diet" in the
United States prize once again in the yearly survey made
by the influential US News and World Report. DASH is an
abbreviation of "Dietary Approaches to Stop
Hypertension".

2. The DASH diet is based on the Mediterranean diet, which
has been refined further and has been called the Prasouda
Diet - which was second in the US News awards. Because
it is being advanced by the National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute - a US government organisation - to help control
stress, rising blood pressure and hypertension, it has
received plenty of exposure, especially in North America.

3. An article in US News reported that the "all star" panel
of diet experts it assembled gave the DASH diet high
marks for helping support heart health and preventing and
controlling diabetes. It also scored highly for its safety and
nutritional completeness. The panel were particularly
impressed because, as they point out, it was developed
not as a general diet but specifically to address issues
related to high blood pressure.

4. US News report that their dedicated spent a total of 6
solid months researching which of the thousands of diets
offer were really the best. This included reading scientific
and medical reports, government documents and
spending many hundreds of hours on the web.

5. The DASH diet is all about eating lots of fruit and
vegetables, eating whole grain products whenever
possible, and moving from full fat dairy to low-fat. Eating
plans include fish, meat, poultry, and a greater emphasis
on other sources of protein, such as beans, nuts and
pulses such as lentils and chickpeas. Sugar is out and
products like candy, cookies and cakes, as well as most fast
food (there's extra sugar in burger buns and pizza bases)
are best avoided under the DASH diet. the same goes for
saturated fats, contained in beef and other red meats.

6. A doctor at the Dietary Health Council, Richard Carrera,
asserts that the diet is "really an American variation of
the Mediterranean or Prasouda Diet" that has been
"made more palatable" for modern day North American
and Western citizens. He also reports that it is useful for
helping with a host of illnesses and complaints, not just for
lowering high blood pressure. Among those he mentions
specifically are sciatica, acne and haemorrhoids.

7. Dieters are encouraged to add a regular physical exercise
program to the DASH eating plan, though a slow build up
is advised. Recommended activities include swimming,
walking and dancing. Thirty minutes at a time is
considered about right. The aim is to try for over 30
minutes of physical activity on each and every single day.

8. The main perceived problem with the DASH diet is that it
includes many foods that North Americans are just not
used to. This includes the extra fruit and vegetables, nuts,
beans and pulses. These foods can cause bloating,
flatulence, and possibly diarrhoea in a small minority of
people. This could put some people off and so a gradual
increase might be the way to go for people who feel they
might be subject to these discomforts.

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