What Is the DASH Diet? Here Is the Best Way to Eat to Prevent Heart Disease
This year, US News & World Report ranked the DASH diet as one of two “best overall” among nearly 40 diets it reviewed. What makes DASH better than the rest? Basically, the plan, developed by the National Institutes of Health, limits salt intake and includes heart-healthy foods to live up to its name: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.
In fact, the DASH diet reads less like a fad diet than a healthy eating plan, including advice that many likely have heard before. Among the guidelines, according to a release from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, are: eat vegetables, fruits and whole grains. When it comes to dairy, choose fat-free or low-fat options. It also advises including lean proteins in your diet, such as fish, chicken, beans and nuts and excluding foods that are high in saturated fat, such as fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, and tropical oil. And, of course, limit intake of those dietary vices of sweets and sugary drinks.
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DASH was developed as an approach to lower blood pressure without medication based on research sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health. The diet does not cut salt completely out of the diet, according to NIH, but lowers blood pressure by incorporating foods with a mix of nutrients, such as protein, fiber, potassium, magnesium and calcium. Research has found that combining foods with these nutrients works to normalize blood pressure and prevent inflammation.
A November 12 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, showed that combining a low-salt diet with the heart-healthy foods included in the DASH diet substantially lowered systolic blood pressure among 400 adults with stage 1 high blood pressure, according to a release from John Hopkins Medicine.
“Our results add to the evidence that dietary interventions are as effective as—or more effective than—antihypertensive drugs in those at highest risk for high blood pressure, and should be a routine first-line treatment option for such individuals,” Dr. Stephen Juraschek, a study co-author, said in the news release. Juraschek is an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an adjunct assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
This is the eighth consecutive year that DASH received top honors in US News and World Report diet rankings. This year, however, that ranking was shared with another—the Mediterranean Diet. The Mediterranean Diet gets its name from the region where this well-balanced pattern of eating was inspired from. It’s not dissimilar from the DASH diet in that it includes an abundance of whole grains, vegetables, beans, nuts and fish. However, it folds in appealing additions of lots of olive oil and even a little red wine (the wine’s optional).
As David Katz, director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, points out in a release about the diet rankings, one plan will not work for everyone but diets like DASH and the Mediterranean Diet can serve as helpful guideposts.
"No single diet is the best for all of us," Katz said. "Ultimately, a 'best' diet is one that can be adopted, managed and sustained over time. ”