The DASH Diet is commonly prescribed by healthcare professionals for individuals who have high blood pressure, but many people use it as a guideline for informing an overall healthy diet. Here’s what you need to know about the DASH Diet, including what the science says about its effectiveness for improving aspects of health and who benefits the most from following it.
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The DASH Diet, Defined
Created in 1990, the DASH Diet stands for “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension”. The National Institute of Health began funding research to examine how effective the diet really was on hypertension in 1992, much of which showed the diet alone (without other lifestyle modifications) was successful in reducing high blood pressure (by approximately 6-11 mm Hg) among many people.
It remains a popular diet recommendation for people with high blood pressure today. However, many people without hypertension also stand to gain benefit over a low-sodium diet — particularly when using the principles of the DASH Diet. Linked to healthy weight management, chronic disease prevention, and overall wellness, here’s what you need to know about the DASH Diet.
Benefits: What the Science Says
The 2003 PREMIER clinical trial is considered to be a landmark research study on the blood pressure-lowering effects of the DASH Diet. It involved 810 participants with pre-hypertension and stage 1 hypertension, who were assigned to either an advice-only group, an established group (including interventions like weight loss, exercise, and lower alcohol and sodium intake), and an established group who underwent the previous interventions plus the DASH Diet. The authors observed a 6.6 mm Hg reduction in systolic blood pressure in the advice-only group, a 10.1 mm Hg reduction in the established group, and an 11.1 mm Hg reduction in the established plus DASH Diet group.
Two decades later, the DASH Diet continues to be beneficial for heart health. In one meta-analysis of 30 studies involving over 5,500 participants, researchers found that those who followed the DASH Diet experienced significantly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels — with reductions of -3.2 mm Hg and -2.5 mm Hg, respectively — compared to individuals following a control diet.
Research also shows that the DASH Diet can offer additional benefits besides just reducing high blood pressure. For example, studies show it can lower certain fats in the blood including high LDL “bad” cholesterol and triglycerides, reducing the long-term risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Others have found that it lowers the incidence of heart failure as well as hospitalizations and deaths related to heart failure.
Who Should Follow The DASH Diet?
The DASH Diet can offer health benefits for anyone seeking a more nutrient-dense diet that’s also lower in sodium, saturated fat, and added sugar. However, it’s especially helpful for people who have hypertension or who are at a higher risk of developing it.
Plus, people who are interested in improving their cardiovascular health, managing their weight, or preventing other chronic diseases with nutrition can benefit from the nutrient-dense foods emphasized by the DASH Diet. While research shows that people who are under 50 years old may experience greater reductions in blood pressure, making dietary improvements will offer health benefits at any age.
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DASH Diet Principles
Here are the basic nutrition principles of the DASH Diet:
- Increased intake of overall fruits and vegetables, such as berries, citrus fruits, cruciferous vegetables, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, avocados, bananas, and mushrooms.
- Choose Whole grains, like brown rice, quinoa, oats, and barley, over refined grains like white rice and bread made with white flour.
- Lean proteins, such as fish, poultry, and legumes, with limited consumption of red meat and processed meats like bacon, sausage, and hot dogs.
- Low-fat dairy products for calcium and vitamin D instead of full-fat ones that are high in saturated fat and often sodium.
- Reduced sodium intake, which can be achieved by not adding salt when cooking, avoiding fast food and packaged convenience meals, and reading nutrition facts labels (a good rule of thumb is choosing packaged items that provide <140 mg of sodium per serving).
- Limiting added sugar found in things like packaged sweets, candy, cookies, pastries, and soda.
For an individual who has been medically prescribed the DASH Diet, here is a general guideline for serving sizes that can be used to plan your diet pattern:
- Vegetables: 5 servings per day
- Fruits: 5 per day
- Carbohydrates: 7 servings per day
- Low-fat dairy products: 2 servings per day
- Lean meat products: <2 servings per day
- Nuts and seeds: 2 to 3 times per week
The Takeaway
The DASH Diet is a well-researched way of eating that has been proven to help lower high blood pressure and potentially offer other health benefits. If you’re considering it, a great place to start is to boost your intake of whole plant foods, healthy fats, and lean proteins, and minimize ultra-processed foods and saturated fat.
