5 Ways To DASH Your Way Into 2012′s Top Diet

A new year typically brings with it a whole new slew of diet phases and fads. Yet while we're only one month into 2012, it looks as though the DASH diet (no relation to the reality stars' clothing store) will again reign supreme, according to US News and World Report.

Developed to fight high blood pressure, DASH may very well be one of the more moderate diets available, encouraging its adherents to stick to nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, veggies, whole grains, low-fat milk products (take that, dairy-hating Harvard researchers), fish, poultry, beans, seeds, and nuts. Foods that aren't permitted (save for special occasions)? The same ones mom forbade from the grocery cart, too: sweets and sugar, in addition to salt-laden products and red meat.

Adapting to the DASH diet is easy; we revisit these five practical tips for getting started.

1. Determine your calorie intake. The DASH diet doesn't restrict calories in the traditional sense. It instead helps men and women determine the number of calories they should be consuming per day based on their level of physical activity. Women age 19 to 50 can expect to eat somewhere between 1,800 and 2,400 calories daily; for men this number jumps to between 2,400 and 3,000.

2. Increase your fiber intake. Fiber is one of the five key ingredients on the DASH diet (the others are potassium, magnesium, calcium, and protein). Fiber in the DASH diet comes from fruits, veggies, and whole grains, most of which are naturally high in the bulky nutrient. Add these foods to your diet incrementally to avoid painful (and unattractive) stomach problems.

3. Boost your dairy consumption. While not all diets embrace dairy products, on the DASH program, fat-free or low-fat milk products are considered important to health. DASH dieters consume two to three servings of dairy every day, like a cup of low- or no-fat milk, a portion of low- or no-fat yogurt, or an ounce and a half of reduced-fat cheese.

If you're lactose intolerant or have trouble digesting milk products (it's more common than you think!), you have two options: Take lactase-enzyme pills or buy lactose-free milk.

4. Limit salty foods. Sodium control is at the core of the DASH diet. How much sodium you can consume depends on how sensitive your body is to this saline element. According to the standard DASH diet, 2,300 milligrams of sodium is permitted per day. The low sodium DASH diet allows just 1,500 milligrams per day.

Either way, considering that a normal American diet boasts upwards of 3,500 milligrams of sodium, you can expect a significant reduction in the amount of salt in your daily intake.

5. Get moving. Physical activity is a key aspect of the DASH diet, which calls for at least 30 minutes of exercise "most days of the week." Dieters who want to both boost their health and slim down should aim for 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every day. Beginning exercisers may choose to split their workouts into segments, since three 20-minute sessions can seem more manageable than a single hour-long workout.

— StacyAtZeel, Zeel.com

Have you tried the DASH diet or any other programs on US News and World Report's list? If you have questions about your diet and health, ask our nutrition experts here. You will be promptly notified via e-mail when they respond.