DASH and Dine

​For the seventh consecutive year, the DASH diet was ranked “Best Diet Overall” by U.S. News & World Report, beating out the Mediterranean diet (which moved up in the rankings from 4th place to 2nd) and MIND, which aims to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. The DASH diet was developed by the National Institutes of Health to help lower blood pressure without medication — DASH stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension”— with weight loss as a side benefit. The diet focuses on cutting sodium and eating a variety of nutrient-rich foods that help control blood pressure naturally — foods high in fiber, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

A factor in the DASH diet’s popularity is that it’s easy to follow and, unlike many popular diets, it doesn’t rely on eliminating entire food elements (like gluten), but rather emphasizes eating more of what you know is good for you (fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, lean proteins) and less of what isn’t (processed foods or foods high in fat, calories or sodium).

DASH may be popular, but is it a healthy way to eat? Christine Zoumas, RD, senior dietitian and director of the Healthy Eating Program at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, says yes. “DASH, with its emphasis on plant-based foods and lean proteins, is sticking closely to The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which we know is the best resource for how to eat a healthy diet.”

Zoumas also likes that DASH isn’t highly restrictive: “No one’s going to have a good diet if they’re miserable eating it because they won’t stick to it.” She says that an important factor in sticking with a healthy diet is creating an eating plan that you can follow for the rest of your life, as opposed to following a diet for a small period of time to lose a few pounds. “When you take a healthy diet and you make it into a healthy dietary pattern, you’ll have an easier time sticking to it and this is going to help you have better health overall and reduce your risk of disease.” While the stated goal of DASH is to help control a medical condition (high blood pressure), it's a good guide for those looking to get more healthy fruits, vegetables and fats into their diets.

We asked Zoumas and her team, who lead nutrition and cooking classes for cancer patients and cancer survivors, to share a couple of recipes that are nutritious, delicious and DASH-friendly.

The first is an interesting spin on a Chinese take-out favorite: fried rice. Using chopped or “riced” cauliflower as its base, this dish is great way to get in your required daily vegetable servings. Cauliflower has a similar nutritional profile to broccoli and other cabbages and its relatively mild flavor takes well to spices, like the ginger and garlic featured in this dish. Bags of riced cauliflower are available in the produce section at most markets, which makes this dish an excellent choice for a weeknight meal, and, at just 166 calories per serving, it will fill you up without loading you down.

Chicken Cauliflower Fried Rice

Vegetable spring rolls are a fun and fancy way to make a low calorie, low sodium, high-nutrient appetizer. This version features carrots and red cabbage, which are full of plant nutrients, avocado, a rich source of monounsaturated fats, and fresh herbs. The wrappers and noodles can be kept in the pantry, ready to roll any time you have extra veggies on hand. You can also substitute the noodles with a lean protein, such as salmon, or tofu.

Vietnamese Vegetable Spring Rolls