Dash Diet: The No-Pain Diet

A group of researchers from 5 major medical centers found
that eating a specific diet rich in nutrient-dense fruits
and vegetables, whole grains and low fat dairy can be a
powerful tool in lowering blood pressure.

The DASH DIET( Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) was
found in 1996 to lower blood pressure about the same as a
blood pressure medication would, and since that time has
quickly become one of the most often prescribed diets in
clinical practice today.

The DASH Diet is recommended by the American Heart
Association, in the USDA’s 2005 Dietary Guidelines for
Americans, and is featured in the US High Blood Pressure
Guidelines.

The DASH DIET Study 459 people were chosen to participate in the DASH DIET Study. They were randomly assigned to one of three different types:

·The “typical American diet”

·A diet with more fruits and vegetables, but otherwise
similar to the typical American diet

·The “DASH diet” – rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat
dairy products; moderate in fish, poultry, and nuts; and
reduced in red meat, sweets, and sugar-sweetened drinks.

To assure they weren’t doing anything else that might lower
their blood pressure, participants were asked not to make
any major changes in the physical activity levels during the
study.

Participants were weighed frequently to make sure their
weight stayed constant; if someone gained or lost weight,
they were given a bit less or more food to eat to get their
weight back to what it was.

Salt/sodium intake was the same in all three diets -
slightly lower than the U.S. average, but still higher than
what most guidelines recommended.

The Results

Those who ate the typical American diet did not
see a change in their blood pressure.

Those on the fruit and vegetable diet experienced a
significant lowering of their systolic blood pressure – The
upper number, which is a measurement of blood pressure in
the arteries when the heart contracts to pump out blood -
but little change in their diastolic pressure.

But the men and women who ate the DASH DIET for eight weeks experienced a significant drop in both their systolic and
diastolic blood pressure readings. Changes occurred within a
week of starting the DASH diet, stabilized within two weeks,
and stayed lowered for the remainder of the eight weeks.

On average, blood pressure fell 5.5 mmHg (systolic) and 3.0
mmHg (diastolic) among all participants (including both
those with normal blood pressure and those with
hypertension).

In participants with high blood pressure, blood pressure
dropped an average of 11.4 mmHg (systolic) and 5.5 mmHg
(diastolic).

These improvements in blood pressure are about the same as
what can be achieved with a single antihypertensive
medication.

There were positive health outcomes of the DASH diet beyond
lowering high blood pressure.

Most importantly, perhaps, the DASH diet lowered the study
participants’cholesterol levels.

When blood cholesterol is high, cholesterol and other fatty
substances collect on the walls of your blood vessels and in
time restrict or block the flow of blood to your heart.

High cholesterol, which is generally caused by a diet high
in saturated fats, is a major risk factor for heart disease.

The DASH diet is low in total and saturated fat.

People who ate the diet during the study, dropped their
cholesterol 14 points. The “bad” cholesterol (LDL) fell 11
points. The level of good cholesterol (HDL) also fell by 3.7
points (this type of drop in HDL is seen when people reduce
their overall fat intake). Combining all the effects
(changes in blood pressure, LDL, and HDL), there was an
important improvement in overall cardiac risk with the DASH
DIET.

A later study was done at the Boston University Medical
Center, which offered the DASH Diet in an online form to
employees of a large US company.

Over 4,000 people enrolled in the DASH DIET program.

They received weekly email reminders to log in to the site
for information on topics such as weight loss, exercise,
reading food labels, grocery shopping and more.

They also were encouraged to track the changes they made to their diet, exercise, weight and blood pressure online.

After one year in the DASH DIET program, study participants
had lost weight and lowered their blood pressure
significantly.

They started eating more fruits and vegetables and moved
from higher fat dairy products to lower fat versions.

After the success of the DASH DIET program, the researchers
decided to offer the program to the general population
online at DASH DIET

The reason the researchers think that the DASH DIET is
perfect for all Americans is that it doesn’t take a whole
lot of learning.

It deals with real foods that are easily found in every
grocery store across America, and allows dieters to choose
how they plan to meet their food servings goals with foods
that they enjoy.

Tom Moore, MD is the founder of the Dash For Health
program and the author of the best-selling book: THE DASH DIET FOR
HYPERTENSION. Find out how you too can lose weight painlessly by claiming your free DASH eating profile at:
DASH DIET

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