Shopping for the dash diet is fun
and easy if you remember a few simple
guidelines.
Make a list of the ingredients you
will need for your meal plan for the
next several days or week. Include all
the foods you will need, including
snacks and breakfast. A good list of
everything you plan to eat for the
coming days is the best way to save
money and to stick to your dash diet plan.
The dash diet is predominantly a
diet of fresh, whole foods. So when
you go shopping, concentrate on
freshness. The less processing the
better.
Keep dash diet friendly items in
the house. Fruit is one of the best staples to have
around the house because it can
easily become a substitute for
unhealthy sweets. Fruits such as
bananas, oranges, apples, grapes and
dried/unsweetened fruits are great for
snacking and adding to salads.
Vegetables are not always everyone’s
first choice, but after a while you will
come to love your fresh salads. The
trick with vegetables is to have a
wide variety.
Whole grains will become a large
part of your diet and can be nicely
mixed together with salad vegetables.
You want to have a variety of whole
grains on hand for different flavors.
Legumes, seeds, and nuts will
become an important protein source
on the dash diet. Beans such as
kidney beans and navy beans are
packed with protein.
Lentils are an
excellent source of iron and make a
very hearty soup. Seeds like
sunflower seeds are a lower fat
alternative to nuts, which are also a
great option. Seeds and nuts are
excellent to add to raw salad meals.
When picking nuts and seeds, make
sure you get unsalted or low salt
varieties.
Lean meats, fish and poultry will
round out your protein needs. It is
best to stick to poultry and fish.
Choose skinless chicken or turkey.
Fish is naturally low in fat. Extra lean
ground beef is an option, as is round
and sirloin beef cuts, in addition to
pork tenderloin.
Low fat dairy products such as low-
fat or non-fat milk, low fat kefir,
cheese, yogurt and sour cream are
permissible on the dash diet.
Excellent substitutes for table salt are
herbs, spices, olive oil, and flavored
vinegars, which all add flavor to
meals without adding salt.
Nonstick cookware is a great way to
reduce the need for oil or butter when
cooking meat or vegetables.
Use a vegetable or rice steamer
instead of a pot to reduce the need for
butter or oil.
Using a garlic press or spice mill to
make it easier to add flavor without
the extra salt.
Add plenty of spices, herbs, garlic,
ginger, lemon, flavored vinegar, and
peppers to add flavor without adding
salt.
Rinse your canned foods like canned
vegetables, canned tomatoes, and tuna
to rinse away the extra salt in the
packing liquid.
Reduce your meat intake. At first this
might be difficult, but after a while
you will become comfortable with
vegetarian meal options and will not
miss the meat at all. You can also
reduce meat in recipes by simply
adding a fraction of the meat the
recipe calls for.
