ENCORE: DASH diet plus weight management improved BP, markers of CV risk

Overweight or obese patients who closely followed the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet plus exercise and weight loss significantly lowered their blood pressure and improved markers of cardiovascular risk.

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet encourages participants to eat food low in cholesterol and saturated and total fat and emphasizes consumption of fruit, vegetables and fat-free or low-fat dairy.

The researchers randomly assigned 144 hypertensive patients to the DASH diet alone or in combination with exercise and behavioral modification or assigned them to usual care. Patients were provided with food and carefully monitored for the first two weeks and then ate on their own for the remaining 14 weeks.

The results were presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 58th Annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla.

“The DASH diet with or without a behavioral weight loss program results in clinically significant reductions in BP. Adding exercise and weight management to the DASH diet also appears to confer even greater reductions in BP as well as additional improvement in left ventricular wall thickness, arterial stiffness and other markers of CV risk,” James Blumenthal, PhD, professor of medical psychology at Duke University, said in a press release.

Those assigned to DASH plus weight management had a 14-mm Hg reduction in systolic BP compared with a 5-mm Hg reduction with diet alone and a 1-mm Hg with usual care. Improvements in diastolic BP were also greater in the diet plus behavioral modification group (11 mm Hg), followed by diet alone (9 mm Hg) and usual care (6 mm Hg).

Similarly, patients randomly assigned to DASH plus weight management had the greatest reductions in weight - 19 lb - compared with 0.6 lb among those assigned to DASH alone and a 2-lb weight gain among those assigned to usual care.

These reductions are comparable with those reported with pharmacological intervention, according to Alan Hinderliter, MD, associate professor of medicine at University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill. – by Katie Kalvaitis

For more information:

Hinderliter A. #413. Presented at: American College of Cardiology's 58th Annual Scientific Sessions; March 29-31, 2009; Orlando, Fla.