A dietary approach to control hypertension: Reflections on adherence to and possible impacts on public health

Abstract

The DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) diet is considered a healthy eating standard and has been recommended for the control of arterial hypertension. The scope of this article was to review the scientific literature regarding the DASH diet and to verify the adherence to this food standard by the Brazilian population. An in-tegrative review of the literature in the Medline/ PubMed, SciELO and LILACS databases was conducted in English and Portuguese. The literature on the DASH diet is extensive. However, only four studies showing adherence to the DASH diet by the Brazilian population were found. Findings from this review show that the DASH diet represents a potentially accessible and applicable intervention, which could improve the health of the population. The studies differed in the methods of evaluation. The low adherence to the diet in the Brazilian population reveals the need for nutritional actions to deal with hypertension. Innovative strategies are called for to determine how best to minimize the barriers to dissemination and greater adherence to this healthy food standard. Food plans and fle-xible, non-restrictive, compatible guidelines with clear objectives directed towards gradual changes with frequent monitoring by a multiprofessional health team, are suggested.