Well, the peaking of the wave of focus on salt has certainly begun.  Mind you, its the peaking, not the beginning!  The concern about excess salt isn’t really new.  Its been a focus of Pritikin style eating for decades and 5 years ago the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s NUTRITION ACTION health letter had a great article called “Pressure Cooker – The Scoop on Salt” which discussed the “DASH diet” (I hate to say that I cringe every time I say or hear the word “diet”…it’s SO much more a lifestyle we are talking about, without the over simplistic “yes or no” – “eat this, don’t eat that” kind of mentality that’s associated with “diets”).  And this next Thursday’s (March 4th) Detroit Free Press will have a 1st page article in the LIFE section on salt that will feature alot of my personal input (go to www.freep.com that day)…so check it out!

Well, let’s try and summarize healthy eating, integrating DASH principles and using whole foods, rather than supplements, pills and over-focusing on numbers, to try and achieve a significant increase in high potassium and magnesium rich foods (and calcium, and of course fiber, rich foods to some degree) with a focus on weight management too.

If you want an ultra-detailed document – just Google “NIH DASH diet” and you’re first option will be a PDF from the National Institutes of Health on DASH.  Its free and there are lots of good recipes and ideas.

But here are some caveats for those trying to manage their weight, blood pressure and bones…please remember that veggies and whole fruits are the primary food on any truly healthy eating plan, NOT grains…not even whole grains are a priority over veggies and whole fruits.  This is because of a number of issues – first of all, the calories.  For the most part, whole grain foods are going to have more calories per bite (aka “more calorie dense”), than most veggies and whole fruits (I am talking about WHOLE fruits here…NOT dried fruits nor fruit juices!).  While there are some notable exceptions, such as cooked oatmeal – cooked whole wheat pastas, brown rice (even if cooked totally without oil – i.e., water only), still do not reach a low enough calorie density to even beat out the low calorie density of the MOST calorie dense (or should I say the LEAST LOW calorie dense) common fruit – a banana. 

But make no mistake – I EAT whole grains!  I just keep the perspective, as should you, that when a whole grain product is chosen instead of a refined grain (typically identified by “whole” NOT being on the ingridient list or having the satanic – tongue a bit in cheek here – term “enriched” BEING on the label), then that is a GOOD thing….but if a whole grain food is being chosen instead of a veggie or a whole fruit (e.g., a big plate of brown rice with a few slivers of veggies instead of vice versa….or some whole grain crackers for a snack instead of a piece of whole, fresh fruit), or even instead of a (low salt) legumes (i.e., bean or lentil), you may not be doing yourself a favor in terms of health.

And its not JUST because of the calories per bit being higher in most presentations of whole grain foods versus veggies, whole fruits and even legumes – it’s because, bite per bite OVERALL – and certainly when looking at it from milligrams of potassium per calorie – veggies and fruits tend to have much higher POTASSIUM content than whole grains…and we KNOW potassium helps lower blood pressure and probably osteoporosis risk by countering the effects of salt. 

Add two other issues: grains (like animal proteins) tend to cause the blood to become acidic, and this causes our bones to be leached of buffering compounds, and calcium, to counter the blood acidity, which could therefore increase osteoporosis risk!  So veggies and fruits – which have natural organic acid neutralizing properties (yes, even “acidic” citrus fruits! … remember, the acidity of the fruit  outside the body – for reasons beyond the scope of this blog but which I’ll answer if you come to one of my classes on nutrition or become a patient – is NOT relevant as to whether the fruit or veggie can neutralize acid – and save your bones, and probably muscle too – INSIDE the body and blood stream) – are the best ways to neutralize the acidity of your otherwise healthy proteins, like fish or (non-salt injected) breast of poultry or game/grass fed animal meats.  Legumes are acid nuetral, by the way.  They don’t seem to worsen nor help the acidity of the blood, so they’d still be a step better as a “starch” choice on the side of your fish, for instance, than a ton of brown rice or whole wheat pasta.

Now add to the fact that many “whole grain” products, especially dry cereals, breads and crackers (add in tortillas etc) have a bunch of salt added (just check out the Nutrition Label), you can see why whole grains can end up being more of a “less bad” choice than a good one.  Just look at Kellogg’s “Bran Flakes” vs there unfrosted Shredded Wheat mini-squares or bisquits….NO SALT in the shredded wheat (a GREAT thing!) but OVER 200mg of sodium per serving in the Bran Flakes!!  Breads are NOTORIUS for adding salt too!  And Triscuits/crackers…well, you see where we are going here.  GO FOR MORE VEGGIES, WHOLE FRUITS and NO-SALT (or rinse em for a minute) BEANS/LENTILS and don’t OVER DO whole grains…doesn’t mean you can’t have any – just try to be careful with the  amount because of calorie density and lower potassium content and try to have no-salt added types as well as, as much as possible, have them cooked vs dry (adding water by cooking lowers the calorie density of the grains and therefore the point at which you’ll feel full will be on less calories than if it were bread, crackers, tortillas, etc…i.e., dry, calorie dense versions of grains).

Now regarding dairy – whew! BE CAREFUL!  A GOOD DASH approach is NOT talking about cheeses!  Most cheeses are WAY high in salt and saturated fat, not to mention pretty darn calorie dense!  But if you MUST have a cheese in the house, consider a reduced fat Swiss cheese since Swiss tends to be far lower, ounce per ounce, in sodium than all other hard cheeses (Sargento Reduced Fat Swiss, for example).  But CAREFUL – cheese is STILL calorie dense and if your are a cheesehead like me, you may want to get the low fat Swiss only every OTHER time you go shopping!) 

When thinking the kind of dairy that may help with health, think fat free yogurts (especially the higher protein Greek yogurts – and now Dannon and Yoplait have their own “Dannon GREEK” and “Yoplait GREEK” versions!) and a bit of skim or 1/2% milk (careful going much higher, MAYBE 1% milk is ok if you don’t drink very much milk and remember that milk, maybe not like juices, juice drinks nor sugared-pops, mind you – but still – is a relatively thin liquid calorie and data is conflicted as to whether it really helps to suppress appetite any better than no-protein thin liquids).  I suppose low fat Soy milks are ok, I am just personally not a fan.  Same with Tofu, a great food/protein source – but I am not a fan…unless I am at the Pritikin Longevity Center in Miami FL!  They make Tofu taste good there!

Well….I hope that helps you understand the potential pitfalls and benefits of DASH eating, especially when it comes to grains and dairy….now check out that PDF on DASH I told you about and you’ll master the best way to do DASH!