Don’t need a book for dash diet details
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I need to obtain a copy of the DASH diet you spoke of. Where can I get it? — L.K.
ANSWER: I can give it to you here. You don’t need a book. You don’t even need a formal printout. DASH is “dietary approaches to stop hypertension.” It’s a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. “Whole grains” are grains —wheat, barley, rye, oats, etc. — that haven’t been refined. They still have their outer coat, bran. Low-fat dairy products are skim milk and other milk products with reduced fat. Red meats, salt and sweets are restricted.
The diet calls for seven or eight whole-grain servings a day. Examples of a serving are one slice of bread, 1 ounce of dry cereal or half a cup of brown rice. Four to five servings of vegetables are on the diet. Here one serving means 1 cup of leafy green vegetables or half a cup of cooked vegetables. Another serving example is 6 ounces of vegetable juice. Four to five servings of fruit is a requirement, with a fruit serving being the equivalent of one medium-sized fruit, a quarter-cup of dried fruit or half a cup of fresh, frozen or canned fruit. Two to three low-fat dairy servings a day is another DASH item, with a serving being 8 ounces of skim milk, 1 cup of low-fat yogurt or 1 1/2 ounces of low-fat cheese. Two servings of meat, poultry and fish a day are allowed. A serving is 3 ounces. Fats and oils should be kept to two or three servings a day with a serving defined as 2 tablespoons of light salad dressing, 1 teaspoon of margarine or 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil.
Weekly, five servings of nuts are allowed, with a serving being 1/3 cup or 1 1/2 ounces.
Combine the above with some daily exercise and a careful restriction of salt, and you can expect your blood pressure to drop. Here’s a doable way to lower pressure, and it might be lowered without having to resort to medicines.
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Is it safe to take several medications at one time? Do multiple meds taken at the same time nullify their absorption or effectiveness? For example, I take my multivitamin with milk each morning because I was told that taking the vitamin with milk would have a strengthening effect on bones. I also take UltraSlim and an acai pill.
ANSWER: Nothing in milk or UltraSlim interferes with the absorption or effectiveness of vitamins. I wonder about the proof behind the thinking that taking a vitamin with milk strengthens bone. It strikes me as being a bit farfetched. I can’t find out what natural products are in acai. I’ve already spent too much time looking for that information. Why not take this pill at some other time and spare me more fruitless search time?
If it’s truly important that a person gets every last milligram, microgram or international unit (I.U.) out of every vitamin in a multivitamin, then the best time to take it is after the day’s largest meal that has some fat in it. Fat enhances the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K. For 99.99 percent of vitamin takers, this isn’t of such importance. We all get plenty of vitamins in a balanced diet. The multivitamin provides a little insurance that we are meeting daily requirements, but for many, it’s not needed. We certainly don’t need every last atom of every vitamin included in the multi pill.
Other medicines can be taken together, so long as no one has told you otherwise. If anyone is in doubt about that, they can speak with their pharmacist to see if one medicine is incompatible with another.
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I really sweat a lot. It happens with any exertion in hot weather — mowing the yard or walking the golf course. Is this anything to worry about, or is it good to sweat? — V.
ANSWER: It’s good to sweat. Evaporation of sweat cools the body. Excessive sweating can be dehydrating and can deplete your body of minerals, like sodium. You don’t have any symptoms, so you’re not dehydrated and not mineral-depleted. It might be a good idea to drink water when you’re sweating so heavily, just to keep out of trouble.
Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.

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