DASH diet

Q: 54 years old male is admitted to ICU with hypertensive crisis requiring two intravenous drips, and transition requires four oral meds. All workups for secondary hypertension remained negative. Dietician recommended DASH diet. What is the DASH diet?

Answer: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension

As acronym says: the DASH diet can be effective in controlling hypertension, particularly in patients who require many meds to control it (In USA, the slang used for such patients is "professional hypertensives"). The major recommended components of DASH diet are:

• 4-5 servings of fruit per day
• 4-5 servings of vegetables per day, and 
• 2-3 servings of low-fat dairy per day, 
• <25 percent of daily caloric intake from fat

DASH diet helps in lowering both systolic and diastolic pressures. Surprisingly, it is found to be more effective than a diet only rich in fruits and vegetables alone. Moreover, when the DASH diet is combined with a low-sodium diet, it may work as equivalent to the antihypertensive agent(s).

    

DASH diet may also be associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer, other cardiovascular diseases, and gout. It may also decrease premature mortality.

    

    

#cardiology

#nutrition

    

References:

    

1. Schwingshackl L, Bogensberger B, Hoffmann G. Diet Quality as Assessed by the Healthy Eating Index, Alternate Healthy Eating Index, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Score, and Health Outcomes: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies. J Acad Nutr Diet 2018; 118:74.

    

2. Appel LJ, Moore TJ, Obarzanek E, et al. A clinical trial of the effects of dietary patterns on blood pressure. DASH Collaborative Research Group. N Engl J Med 1997; 336:1117.

    

3. Sacks FM, Svetkey LP, Vollmer WM, et al. Effects on blood pressure of reduced dietary sodium and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. DASH-Sodium Collaborative Research Group. N Engl J Med 2001; 344:3.

    

4. Rai SK, Fung TT, Lu N, et al. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, Western diet, and risk of gout in men: prospective cohort study. BMJ 2017; 357:j1794

    

5.Fung TT, Hu FB, Wu K, et al. The Mediterranean and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diets and colorectal cancer. Am J Clin Nutr 2010; 92:1429.

6. Salehi-Abargouei A, Maghsoudi Z, Shirani F, Azadbakht L. Effects of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-style diet on fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular diseases--incidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis on observational prospective studies. Nutrition 2013; 29:611.