ABSTRACT
This chapter provides health practitioners a knowledge of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet composition, current research evaluating the diet, typical weight loss results, the pros and cons of the diet as well as which patients would most benefit from each diet plan. The DASH diet was developed and tested to help slow the rising incidence of hypertension in the United States. The DASH Diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy, and is reduced in meats, saturated fats, and sweets. Although the DASH Diet has been shown to have several health benefits, the primary reason for designing the DASH Diet was to find an eating pattern that would lower blood pressure even without weight loss or sodium reduction. The original DASH research team performed a follow-up controlled feeding study, combining the DASH Diet and various levels of sodium intake, to test whether DASH combined with sodium reduction was more effective than either intervention alone.
