The DASH Diet and Mayo Diet, Which Is Better?

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Diet habits have become a trend in recent years. Changes in people's diet, especially in urban areas, make the body more fat and invite many diseases to emerge. As a result, we must balance food intake so that the body weight remains ideal in various ways, one of which is diet. Many dietary techniques are offered, ranging from blood type diet, non-carbo diet, DASH diet, to a diet that is increasingly becoming a trend namely the Mayo diet.

The wrong diet can be fatal

Some nutrition experts suggest that limiting food intake (diet) must be done healthily, starting with how to recognize our own body. Limitations on intake should not reduce daily caloric needs and nutrition needed by the body. When done carelessly and not following the rules, dietary side effects can arise. Various side effects include hypoglycemia (lack of sugar), hyponatremia (lack of salt), etc. that are not healthy, it can lead to death.

Therefore, before starting a diet, it's good that you first know the ins and outs of the diet that you will live. There are 2 types of diets that are initially a therapy for patients with metabolic diseases, now can be used by the community, because the effects are good for health. The diet is the DASH and Mayo diet. What are the advantages and disadvantages? Let's follow the explanation below

What is the DASH diet?

DASH is an extension of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, a diet formulated by the National Institute of Health (NIH). The DASH diet is a healthy diet intended to help treat or prevent hypertension (high blood pressure). There are 2 types of DASH diets, namely:

  1. The standard DASH diet, which is the maximum sodium intake allowed is 2300 mg per day.
  2. The DASH diet is below the standard, sodium intake per day should not exceed 1500 mg per day.

What is the Mayo diet?

The Mayo Diet is a fast (13 day) diet method developed by the Mayo Clinic in the United States that aims to help lose weight for obese patients. This diet is also done by not using salt in every food consumed. Although the way to do it is by both limiting salt intake, but the purpose of this diet is different.

The different effects of the DASH and Mayo diet on the body

By doing a DASH diet, you will reduce the intake of sodium (salt) in food and increase the variety of foods that contain nutrients that are useful for lowering blood pressure, such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium. A study says, the habit of doing the DASH diet will lower your blood pressure 8 to 14 points within 2 weeks. 

Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains recommended in the DASH diet also provides various other elements such as lycopene, beta-carotene and isoflavones. These elements can help protect your body from attacks of various diseases, such as cancer, osteoporosis, stroke and diabetes. By following the DASH diet, you can also help reduce your risk of heart disease by lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or bad cholesterol) levels.

While the Mayo diet prioritizes weight loss quickly by utilizing the nature of salt, which is to draw water. At the beginning of our Mayo diet, salt and water in our bodies undergo a process of expulsion from urine and feces. Restricting salt intake makes the body not draw water from the outside, so that the body weight is automatically reduced.

How do you do the DASH diet?

Unlike the Mayo diet, which only lasts 13 days, the DASH diet is carried out throughout the year until good eating habits are formed. The rules for frequency of eating are 3 times a day with food portions covering 2000 calories per day. Here's how to do the DASH diet.

Whole grains (6 to 8 servings per day)

  • Replace white rice with brown rice.
  • If you want to eat pasta, choose pasta from whole wheat.
  • Replace fresh bread with whole wheat bread without adding cheese, chocolate or butter.

Vegetables and fruits (4 to 5 servings per day)

  • Choose vegetables and fruits rich in magnesium and potassium such as bananas. Eat as a snack at 11am and 5pm or 1 hour before a big meal.
  • It's best not to peel the fruit skin because it contains lots of nutrients, and choose fresh vegetables instead of frozen vegetables.

Low or nonfat milk and milk products (2 to 3 servings per day)

  • This food group is very beneficial because of the content of calcium, vitamin D and protein.
  • Choose low fat or even fat free. Can be varied with vegetables and fruit in salad dishes.

Meat, poultry and fish (maximum 6 servings per day)

  • Remove skin from meat because the skin contains high fat.
  • The method of processing by grilling, steaming, or boiling is preferred over frying.
  • Choose fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which serve to lower cholesterol such as salmon and tuna.

Fat and oil (2 to 3 servings per day)

  • Limit your intake of meat, butter, cheese, milk, cream, and eggs and processed coconut oil foods.
  • Avoid trans fats that are found in many processed foods such as biscuits, fried foods, and packaging snacks.
  • Read carefully food labels, choose those that contain low levels of saturated fat and are free of trans fat.

Candied, especially low or nonfat (maximum 5 servings per week)

  • Avoid foods that contain artificial sweeteners.
  • Avoid packaging drinks that contain artificial sweeteners. Although labeled diet or low sugar, the sugar content that is not needed by the body remains.
  • Choose water as a daily drink. In addition to no calories, water also has many functions such as dissolving the body's toxins, forming cells and body fluids, as a cushion of body organs, as a lubricant, and facilitating our digestive function.

Nuts, seeds and legumes (4 to 5 servings per week)

Sodium

  • Depends on the type of DASH Diet chosen.
  • Recommended sodium consumption is 1500 mg - 2300 mg per day

How do you do the Mayo diet?

As for the Mayo diet, the duration needed is 13 days with the main restrictions on salt and cold water consumption. Because it reduces the amount of water in the body, this diet requires consumption of at least 2 liters of water per day. If we violate and consume salt, we must repeat the diet from the first day. This is the toughest challenge of this type of diet. The Mayo diet is enough to do 1x a year to improve the body's chemical composition.

Which is better: the DASH diet or the Mayo diet?

Both types of diet are both healthy and improve the condition of the body by maintaining the amount of intake we eat. DASH diet is good for maintaining your overall health and providing a better body chemistry process, but many people leave it because if your diet aims to lose weight, the DASH diet provides results that are only visible after a long time. Naturally, because the DASH diet is designed to form healthy eating habits so that it is expected to be able to prevent various diseases.

While the Mayo diet aims to lose weight instantly. Its nature which reduces the composition of the body's water has side effects namely dehydration and hyponatremia (lack of salt) if it is not carried out according to the rules.

So, which is your choice?

READ ALSO:

  • Guide to Living the Mediterranean Diet, the Diet that is Considered to be the Healthiest
  • 4 Ways to Undergo an Over-Hunger Diet
  • Sports vs Diet: Which Is More Effective in Losing Weight?
The DASH Diet and Mayo Diet, Which Is Better?
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