Noom vs. DASH Diet

Noom vs. DASH Diet – There are new and exciting things happening in the weight-loss market. In essence, some have to deal with technology, and others have to do with the revitalization of some of the best diets available today. Here we’ll take a look at the difference between new and classic dietary health support and how technology and tried and true eating methods can work together for the best results.

What is Noom?

Noom is a weight-loss program designed around the complexities of the mind and how those complexities play a part in weight loss. The user gains access to personal coaching, a customized weight-loss plan, and a dedicated community of supporters, among other benefits. The two programs currently available from Noom are the Healthy Weight Program and the Diabetes Prevention Program.

What is the DASH Diet?

The DASH Diet was created with cardiovascular or heart health in mind. According to the National Institutes of Health, “DASH is a flexible and balanced eating plan that helps create a heart-healthy eating style for life.”

Noom vs. DASH Diet – History

Brief History of Noom

Noom was founded in 2008. The founders are Saeju Jeong and Artem Petakov. As of March 2020, Noom had secured multiple rounds of funding from the likes of Serena Ventures and Samsung. Noom offices are located in Tokyo, Seoul, and New York.

Some refer to Noom as an app for millennials because of the connection millennials have with technology. Though the range of ages for people who use the program is well beyond this small population.

Brief History of the DASH Diet

The National Institutes of Health allotted funds for research into dietary modifications to naturally lower blood pressure in 1992. The subjects were only allowed to make dietary changes – no other lifestyle changes were to be made. After multiple studies, simple dietary changes reduced blood pressure. This research led to the acceptance of the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Diet.

Noom vs. DASH Diet – Who’s Behind the Plans?

Who Created Noom?

The two men behind Noom, Petakov and Jeong, began the company in 2008. Over the last decade, the app has changed to adopt the latest technology, paired with the psychological aspect of weight loss. The two doctors called on personal trainers, psychologists, and nutritionists to create a novel program that takes various data points unique to each user to create a personalized plan.

Jeong began his career in Korea, where he founded BuyHard Productions. After six years in Korea, Jeong partnered with Petakov to create Noom.

Petakov started out with Sun Microsystems as an intern. He then worked for Google before co-founding WorkSmart Labs. WorkSmart Labs went on to develop Noom.

Who Created the DASH Diet?

The DASH Diet is a culmination of research and clinical testing. There is no one author or creator of the program. As new and evolving research presents relevant information, the suggestions for the DASH Diet change. It is an evolving program that’s considered one of the healthiest overall diets.

Noom vs. DASH Diet – The Rules

Rules of Noom

A significant difference between Noom and other weight-loss and lifestyle programs is that Noom doesn’t have rules like other plans. You receive education via lessons and articles with quizzes to reinforce what you’ve learned. Three major elements on Noom are tracking food, tracking exercise, and monitoring weight. Based on clinical research, tracking daily activities, especially food tracking, has been clinically proven to help people lose more weight than when tracking is not used. Noom also allows for blood pressure and blood sugar tracking.

Noom is calorie-based, so after completing a questionnaire about your weight-loss goals, you’ll be assigned a total suggested calorie intake. You can, however, increase the total calories you can eat with exercise, but first, let’s check out food tracking with Noom.

Food Tracking: The food tracking system that comes with Noom is calorie-based, but foods are broken down into three categories: green, yellow, and red. As you move through the program, you learn which foods fall into which categories, so eventually, you’ll be able to make food decisions without considering calories at all. You’ll have learned what foods to eat in what quantities to meet your needs.

You eat the majority of your calories from green foods, followed by yellow, with the least amount of calories coming from red foods.

• Green Foods – Some of the green foods allowed on Noom include fruits (peaches, tomatoes, oranges, cherries, blueberries, watermelon, apples, bananas, strawberries) and vegetables (asparagus, lettuce, onion, spinach, green beans, broccoli, carrots). Other foods in the green category include non-fat yogurt and almond milk.
• Yellow Foods – When you hit the yellow food category, you get into dairy foods (low-fat milk, low-fat cheese), meats (lean cuts, fish, eggs), bread (corn tortillas, English muffins), hummus, avocados, and diet sodas.
• Red Foods – The least number of daily calories should come from foods in the red category. These include all fried foods, potato chips, white foods (white rice, white bread, white sugar, pasta, white flour), peanut butter, mayonnaise, and processed foods.

Exercise Tracking: Noom wants the user to get the most out of exercise, so there’s an incentive. 50% of the total calories burned during exercise are added back into your calorie total, so you can eat more calories. For instance, if you complete a high-intensity exercise class and burn 400 calories, you can add 200 calories to your daily goal. In this case, if your suggested calorie intake is 1200 calories, you can bump that up to 1400 calories after exercise.

Lessons and Quizzes: Noom claims to work in just 10 minutes a day, but how? Each day the user is presented with articles and lessons that teach small changes that lead to lasting results. These small changes are reinforced with quizzes to keep information fresh and to connect the different bits of information into a more significant lifestyle change. Some things you learn with Noom are how the body uses food, what foods offer the best nutrition, and when to lean on someone for help – among many other topics throughout the 16-week plan.

Learn more about how Noom works with color categories to teach healthier eating habits with a free trial offer.

Rules of the DASH Diet

The rules or guidelines of the DASH Diet are a little more complicated than some people would like. There are various elements to take into account when establishing the ideal calorie intake, and you need to watch food intake via calories and servings per day and week.

First off, the diet establishes how many calories a man or woman needs to intake based on age and activity level. The activity level is the first definition that’s important to follow the DASH Diet. The three activity levels are sedentary, moderately active, and active.

Sedentary: physical activity that’s part of your regular daily routine

Moderately Active: regular physical activity plus additional activity equal to walking up to three miles per day at three to four miles an hour

Active: regular physical activity plus further activity equivalent to walking more than three miles per day at three to four miles an hour

Now, based on these definitions for activity levels, the DASH Diet suggests daily calorie intake.

Women

• Ages 19-30: 2000 cals (sedentary), 2000-2200 cals (moderately active), 2400 cals (active)
• Ages 31-50: 1800 cals (sedentary), 2000 cals (moderately active), 2200 cals (active)
• Ages 51+: 1600 cals (sedentary), 1800 cals (moderately active), 2000-2200 cals (active)

Men

• Ages 19-30: 2400 cals (sedentary), 2600-2800 (moderately active), 3000 cals (active)
• Ages 31-50: 2200 cals (sedentary), 2400-2600 cals (moderately active), 2800-3000 cals (active)
• Ages 51+: 2000 cals (sedentary), 2200-2400 cals (moderately active), 2400-2800 cals (active)

Next are servings. There are generic recommendations, as discussed shortly. Still, the detailed guidance for servings per day of suggested food groups depends on the total recommended calorie intake.

As is expected, the fewer calories suggested per day, the fewer servings of each food group. The calories noted are the total calories per day allowed across men and women of all activity levels. For example, the first calorie total is women who are sedentary, and the last is active men.

• Grains (1200 to 3100 cals): 4-13 servings
• Vegetables (1200 to 3100 cals): 3-6 servings
• Fruits (1200 to 3100 cals): 3-6 servings
• Fat-free or low-fat dairy (1200-3100 cals): 2-4 servings
• Fish, poultry, lean meats (1200-3100 cals): 3-9 servings
• Seeds, nuts, legumes (1200-3100 cals): 3 per week to 1 per day
• Fats and oils (1200-3100 cals): 1-4 servings
• Sweets (1200-3100 cals): 3 per week to less than 2 per day
• Sodium (1200-3100 cals): 2300mg per day (1500mg for a lower-sodium DASH Diet)

Noom vs. DASH Diet – Eating Plans

The Noom Eating Plan

Noom is all about eating whole foods that provide complete nutrition. This means choosing from a rainbow of foods so you get the best nutrition you can. The small changes taught each day through lessons and quizzes build up over time, leading to long-term changes in how you eat, how you look at food, and overall health.

Food restrictions are not part of the Noom plan. No foods are removed from the diet, but guidance is given for portion sizes, as well as advice on how much of certain foods work best as a single serving. It’s the guidance to make better choices that lead to lasting change and lasting weight loss.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has listed Noom as a lifestyle change program.

The DASH Eating Plan

The two main elements of the DASH Diet are sodium intake and food choices. As for sodium intake:

Standard DASH Diet – up to 2300mg of sodium per day.

Lower-sodium DASH Diet – up to 1500mg of sodium per day.

As for food choices, the DASH Diet provides guidelines for each of the following food groups. Each is on a per-day basis. These are general guidelines. Exact guidelines differ based on age and gender.

• 6-8 servings of grains
• 4-5 servings of vegetables
• 4-5 servings of fruits
• 2-3 servings of dairy
• 6 ounces or fewer of lean meat, fish, and poultry
• 4-5 servings of seeds, nuts, and legumes (per week)
• 2-3 servings of healthy fats
• 5 servings or less of sweets (per week)

Noom vs. DASH Diet – Plan Duration

How Long Does Noom Last?

The Noom program is designed to last a minimum of 16 weeks. After the initial 16 weeks, the user can continue on the plan as long as desired. The method works to gradually introduce changes to current habits. The small changes, which don’t feel like weight-loss changes at all, help people learn how to make healthier choices for overall health. The lessons you learn with Noom last a lifetime.

How Long Does the DASH Diet Last?

There is no time limit to the DASH Diet. DASH is a lifestyle plan that aims to help control blood pressure as a means of prevention of health issues related to high blood pressure and for the maintenance of healthy blood pressure. Based on that focus, the DASH Diet can be followed for life.

Significant Differences Between Noom and the DASH Diet

The clear difference between Noom and the DASH Diet is that Noom is an app, and the DASH Diet is a lifestyle approach to support heart health.

Noom provides education and lessons on how to make small changes that lead to a healthier lifestyle.

While that healthier lifestyle may align with the values of the DASH Diet, there’s no real guidance or step-by-step process to learn how to make the changes if following the DASH Diet without the guidance of a program like Noom.

Can You Follow the DASH Diet on Noom?

Yes, you can follow the guidelines of the DASH Diet while using the Noom weight-loss program. The DASH Diet is centered around eating foods that help keep blood pressure under control. The recommended foods include whole grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and lean meats. These foods fit perfectly within the lessons and strategies promoted with Noom.

Possible Side Effects of Noom vs. DASH Diet

The only side effect we found that should be considered when following the DASH Diet is the chance of blood pressure falling too low. That is not typically the case, but the possibility remains for a small number of people.

As for Noom, the only side effect is weight loss and healthier food and lifestyle choices.

There are no side effects with Noom – to find out more give Noom a try with a free trial offer.

Noom vs. DASH Diet – The Research

Clinical Research on Noom

According to a large study of more than 35,000 participants, nearly 78% of users reported weight loss while using Noom. It appears that tracking your daily dinner consumption is the leading factor in weight loss, based on the study published in Scientific Reports.

Additional clinical support comes from research in the journal Obesity Research and Clinical Practice. The published research shows a significant reduction in body mass index (a measure of body fatness) with the use of the Noom app.

The journal Metabolic Syndromes and Related Disorders showed that after losing weight, the Noom app helps the user maintain that weight loss, which is the idea behind the slow, progressive changes. By the end of the program, you feel like you’re living at a lighter weight, and maintaining that new weight is much easier when you have the education and support you need.

Clinical Research on the DASH Diet

The DASH Diet has been around for decades and, with that, comes lots of research. After the initial research funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers from around the world dedicated time to learning how DASH rules can promote overall health.

In 2018, the DASH Diet celebrated its 20th anniversary – based on the first publication of research showing benefits for heart health. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), “The DASH diet represents a potentially affordable and scalable intervention that could almost immediately produce considerable improvements in population health.”

In complimenting the Noom plan, the DASH Diet has also been shown to possibly support weight loss in overweight and obese individuals. One unique benefit of the plan, according to the American Diabetes Association, is that the DASH Diet can be adapted to fit the entire family.

Getting to the heart of the matter, the DASH Diet started as a means of promoting heart health and healthy blood pressure.

The DASH Diet alone is strong enough to reduce blood pressure. Still, when combined with a reduction in sodium, the effect is even more pronounced, according to research in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Another study, completed 16 years later, came to the same conclusion. In a trial of 412 participants, when a low-sodium diet was partnered with DASH guidelines, the effect on blood pressure was substantial. This is especially true of people with the highest levels of systolic blood pressure, according to the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The Facts About Noom vs. DASH Diet

Quick Facts on Noom

• Artificial intelligence and the latest technology are used to support weight-loss and lifestyle changes.
• Users are taught to eat healthier through gradual changes.
• No foods are forbidden on Noom.
• A structured plan with small changes is used for life-long results.
• The Noom plan is personalized to the user.
• Personal coaches are partnered with users for one-on-one support.
• Research involving more than 35,000 people showed Noom works to help users lose weight.

Quick Facts on the DASH Diet

• Calorie suggestions are based on age and activity level.
• The number of servings for each food group is based on total calorie suggestion.
• Total sodium intake should be monitored.
• The DASH Diet is not relegated to medical patients.
• May lower blood pressure even in people who have normal blood pressure.

The DASH Diet has been called one of the healthiest diets ever. It utilizes the power of whole, healthy foods to support heart health, but the suggestions go hand in hand with many of Noom’s philosophies. Noom has a hand up on the DASH Diet, however, because it takes you through the steps to healthier eating through education and one-on-one coaching all in fewer than 15 minutes a day.

Find out more about Noom with a free trial offer available to Dietspotlight readers.

Noom vs. DASH Diet Questions and Answers

Why is it called Noom?

The word Noom is the word Moon backward. According to Noom, the moon is a guiding light, and that’s what the app aims to be. A guiding light to a healthier life.

What is the Noom diet?

The Noom diet is a 16-week weight-loss program designed to teach healthy lifestyle changes with the use of artificial intelligence, technology, and psychology.

Is Noom just calorie counting?

No, Noom is not just calorie counting. While the number of calories you should consume daily is suggested, the plan focuses on the user learning a color system, so calorie counting isn’t needed. Green means go for those foods. Yellow means slow down and only consume moderately. Red is to be consumed on occasion.

Is there a free version of Noom?

Yes, Noom can be downloaded free from the iOS and Google app stores. You can sign up for a trial period to test out the program.

What are the red foods on Noom?

Foods with little nutritional value, added preservatives, and added sugars are on the list of red foods on Noom. These foods should only be eaten on occasion.

What are the yellow foods on Noom?

Though no foods are prohibited on Noom, there are foods that the plan suggests you eat in moderation. These yellow foods are where your meats and bread come in.

What are the green foods on Noom?

Green foods are all about providing the most nutritional value for the calories. Green foods, of course, include vegetables, but non-fat dairy and some nut milk are also suggested.

Can you cancel Noom at any time?

After the initial 16 weeks on Noom, you can cancel at any time.

How much does Noom cost per month?

The base prices for Noom are:

• $59 per month, recurring
• $99 per 2 months, recurring
• $129 per 4 months, recurring
• $149 per 6 months, recurring
• $159 per 8 months, recurring
• $199 per year, recurring

Is Noom easy to cancel?

Yes, Noom is easy to cancel. Simply log into your account and send a message to your personal coach, letting them know you want to cancel your subscription. You will receive an email confirmation when the plan is canceled.