Dietary Approaches to Hypertension: Dietary Sodium and the DASH Diet for Cardiovascular Health

Abstract

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) trial demonstrated that an eating plan rich in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products with reduced total and saturated fat, cholesterol, and sugar-sweetened products effectively lowers blood pressure (BP) in individuals with elevated BP and stage I hypertension, including minorities. However, limited evidence is available for the efficacy of the DASH eating pattern in special patient populations that were under-represented in the trial, including individuals with diabetes, patients with chronic kidney disease, and children. Additionally, applying significant multilevel public health interventions addressing the social determinants of health can effectively benefit various populations and allow for modification to the DASH diet along with the use of novel ways of promoting it to these groups. In general, the DASH diet can be easily adopted by most patient populations and in conjunction with pharmacotherapy and other therapeutic lifestyle interventions to reduce BP and cardiovascular disease risk.