overlooked consequence of being overweight or obese. If you are overweight, consider a 10 percent body weight loss for improved blood pressure and improved health. Losing just 10 pounds, however, can lower blood pressure as much as 10 points. We’ve also personally seen clients and patients reduce the amount of — and even eliminate — blood pressure medications they take after they commit to losing weight.
Obesity doesn’t just help blood pressure rise. It also aggravates other issues related to high blood pressure. For instance, heavier people tend to retain more fluid, which can lead to swelling in the legs, hands, and face, and in severe cases, congestive heart failure. Additionally, the more weight you carry, the more sensitive you may become to salt, which in turn raises blood pressure.
It’s estimated that obesity shortens the average life span by 10 to 20 years. That’s because that extra weight also raises your risk for
Arthritis
Cancer
Dementia
Diabetes
Heart disease
Intestinal disease
Lung disease
Stroke
We tell you more about these serious consequences of body weight in Chapter 8.
How DASH can help
DASH wasn’t designed as a weight-loss program, but it’s perfect for the job. Why, you ask? Because a DASH diet is not overly restrictive, is chock-full of green leafy vegetables and fruit, is high in fiber (so it fills you up), and includes health-promoting foods that are lower in calories.
By choosing to eat the DASH way, you’ll add plenty of low-fat dairy products such as Greek yogurt. (Greek yogurt is higher in hunger-squashing protein than regular yogurt, and it’s a great source of calcium to boot.) Be sure to check flavored yogurt labels for added sugar (some of the sugars in yogurt are from its natural lactose). We like to use plain yogurt and add our own fruit or crunchy toppings like granola, nuts, or seeds. Plain yogurt is great for cooking and baking as well. Nuts are another DASH-friendly treat that calm the hunger beast with heart-healthy fats (just be sure to measure your portions, because nuts are calorie-dense).
Need more evidence? Consider the results of a 2010 study from Duke University, which evaluated the effects of a calorie-cutting DASH diet plus exercise for overweight and obese men and women. The four-month program, designed with a weight-loss goal of one half to a full pound per week, was tested against the DASH diet without weight loss and against a typical American diet. At the end of the four months, those on the weight-loss plan were down more than 20 pounds on average. Compared to their baseline numbers, systolic blood pressure had dropped by about 16 points, and diastolic by 10. DASH dieters without weight loss, on the other hand, lowered systolic blood pressure a respectable but not as impressive 11 points, and diastolic 7.5 points. On top of all that, those who lost weight with DASH were at lower risk for diabetes, had better lipid profiles, and could exercise for longer.
Fighting Diabetes
Diabetes is an illness that affects how the body processes glucose. When you eat, the body converts food into the most common form of energy: glucose. Glucose circulates in your bloodstream to be used as fuel for many parts of the body. In response to this, insulin is secreted to metabolize the glucose (in other words, deliver it to cells). Insulin is the hormone responsible for ensuring that the glucose in your bloodstream is put to work. All people with diabetes have problems with either producing or using insulin.
Since the 1970s, the prevalence of diabetes has more than doubled, and the number continues to rise. At the time of this writing, 34.2 million people in the U.S. have diabetes and more than 425 million people worldwide are living with diabetes. Many more are at high risk for developing the disease. It’s estimated that 1.5 million people are diagnosed in the U.S. alone each year. The vast majority of diabetes cases are the type 2 variety and in most cases are a direct consequence of diet, lifestyle choices, and obesity. Once known as adult-onset diabetes, this term is now a misnomer because more and more young children are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Why diabetes matters
When the body’s various systems become overloaded with glucose, the situation is anything but sweet. High blood sugar and high insulin levels are directly damaging to the lining of your blood vessels. This accounts for many of the tragic consequences of diabetes, including the following:
Blindness
Heart disease, including heart attacks and heart failure
Intestinal disease
Kidney failure
Liver disease
Nerve damage
Poor healing, which may lead to dangerous skin and bone infections, sometimes requiring amputation
Stroke
How DASH can help
Rest assured that diabetes will change your life, but it’s usually preventable, and DASH can be part of the solution. With its emphasis on healthy whole foods and limits on sugary foods and snacks, DASH is a great fit for people with diabetes. Critics of DASH cite its relatively high carb count, but it’s important to remember that not all carbs are the same, and the fiber content of DASH is quite beneficial to anyone with diabetes. In addition, the carbohydrate balance is reasonable and can be adjusted (anywhere from 45 percent to 50 percent of your total calories). DASH includes plenty of nutritionally rich complex carbohydrates, including fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, but it eliminates sugary beverages, candy, chips, pretzels, salty processed crackers, high-sugar snack bars, and other highly processed foods.
You don’t have to take our word that DASH works. Several important studies have evaluated the effect of DASH on type 2 diabetes showing that adherence to DASH can help reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes. In the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (a mouthful if there ever were one), more than 850 non-diabetic individuals ages 40 to 69 filled out a detailed food questionnaire. After five years, those whose diets were most like DASH were 70 percent less likely to become diabetic compared to those whose eating habits strayed the farthest from the diet.
OMNI-HEART TACKLES DIABETES
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