Diet to lower blood pressure improves heart health and prevents diabetes: list of foods

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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death. Doctors often cite a diet high in sodium (salt) as one of the factors that affect heart health.

Although sodium is clearly linked to high blood pressure, few well-controlled studies have established a direct causal link between high sodium intake and cardiovascular disease, heart attack, or stroke.

In the new analysis, researchers looked at three cardiovascular biomarkers, which are measurable indicators of cardiovascular health in the blood to determine whether diet has a direct effect on heart health.

Analyzing blood samples from clinical trial participants following a strict diet, the team showed that a diet that lowers high blood pressure, known as the DASH diet, reduced inflammation. The results, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, also showed that the DASH diet, alone or in combination with a low-sodium diet, reduced the risk of heart injury and stress.

“Our study is one of is the most compelling evidence that diet directly affects heart damage, and our results show that dietary interventions can improve cardiovascular disease risk factors in a relatively short period of time,” said first and corresponding author Stephen Jurashek, MD, associate professor of medicine at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School (HMS).

DASH Diet: High intake of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, whole grains, poultry, fish, and nuts while limiting saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, red meat, sweets and sugary drinks. A well-studied diet developed in the 1990s has proven effective in preventing cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular disease.