Effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Eating Plan on Cardiovascular Risks Among Type 2 Diabetic Patients

A randomized crossover clinical trial

Azadbakht, Leila PHD
Fard, Nafiseh Rashidi Pour BSC
Karimi, Majid MD
Baghaei, Mohammad Hassan PHD
Surkan, Pamela J. PHD
Rahimi, Majid MSC
Esmaillzadeh, Ahmad PHD
Willett, Walter C. MD, DRPH

¹Food Security Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran;
²Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran;
³Shaheed Motahari Hospital, Fooladshahr, Isfahan, Iran;
⁴Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland;
⁵Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts;
⁶Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.

Corresponding author: Leila Azadbakht, [email protected].

Received April 8, 2010

Accepted September 3, 2010

Diabetes Care 34(1):p 55-57, January 2011. | DOI: 10.2337/dc10-0676

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating pattern on cardiometabolic risks in type 2 diabetic patients.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

A randomized crossover clinical trial was undertaken in 31 type 2 diabetic patients. For 8 weeks, participants were randomly assigned to a control diet or the DASH eating pattern.

RESULTS

After following the DASH eating pattern, body weight (P = 0.007) and waist circumference (P = 0.002) reduced significantly. Fasting blood glucose levels and A1C decreased after adoption of the DASH diet (−29.4 ± 6.3 mg/dl; P = 0.04 and −1.7 ± 0.1%; P = 0.04, respectively). After the DASH diet, the mean change for HDL cholesterol levels was higher (4.3 ± 0.9 mg/dl; P = 0.001) and LDL cholesterol was reduced (−17.2 ± 3.5 mg/dl; P = 0.02). Additionally, DASH had beneficial effects on systolic (−13.6 ± 3.5 vs. −3.1 ± 2.7 mmHg; P = 0.02) and diastolic blood pressure (−9.5 ± 2.6 vs. −0.7 ± 3.3 mmHg; P = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

Among diabetic patients, the DASH diet had beneficial effects on cardiometabolic risks.