Health
DASH diet cuts heart disease, stroke risk
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 5, 2008
Women who eat in ways similar to that recommended to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension or DASH diet are less likely to develop coronary heart disease or have a stroke, according to a study in the April 14 Archives of Internal Medicine.
This style of eating has long been proven to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, but data have been less conclusive about whether it reduces the risk of vascular disease and related mortality.
Researchers from Simmons College in Boston analyzed data gathered from 1980 to 2004 on 88,517 participants in the Nurses Health Study.
The DASH diet decreased the risk of coronary disease by 24% and stroke by 18%. It was also associated with lower levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6.
The authors are calling for research to assess the effect of DASH in other populations and to compare it to other healthy eating possibilities such as the Mediterranean diet.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/05/05/hlbf0505.htm.
