Sticking to DASH diet may reduce chances of heart failure in individuals above 75

High blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular diseases are global menaces these days. Sticking to a customized diet is imperative to keep heart disease at a bay. Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet may reduce chances of heart failure in individuals aged less than 75 years, revealed a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

It is hypothesized that higher DASH diet concordance has a protective effect on heart failure in a multi-ethnic cohort. DASH is a flexible and balanced diet plan that helps create a heart-healthy eating style for life. What is interesting about this diet is, the DASH eating plan does not require special foods and instead provides daily and weekly nutritional goals. This plan recommends:

• Eating vegetables, fruits, and whole grains


• Including fat-free or low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and vegetable oils


• Limiting foods that are high in saturated fat, such as fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, and tropical oils such as coconut, palm kernel, and palm oils


• Limiting sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets.

Researchers at the Wake Forest School of Medicine conducted a Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis cohort which included men and women of multiple ethnicities who were aged 45–84 years and free of clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline. Participants were recruited between 2000 and 2002 from six U.S. communities and followed for incident cardiovascular health events through 2015 for the purpose of this data set. Diet was measured using food-frequency questionnaires. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to investigate the associations of the DASH diet concordance with incident heart failure in 2017–2018.

Key findings

• During a median 13 years of follow-up, 179 of 4,478 participants developed heart failure, corresponding to a rate of 3.4 per 1,000 person-years.


• Heart failure incidence rates did not vary significantly by DASH quintile for the population as a whole.


• In participants younger than 75 years, highest DASH concordance was associated with a lower risk of incident heart failure compared with those in the lowest quintile after adjusting for demographics, energy consumption, and known cardiovascular confounders.

"This study supports the hypothesis that DASH is beneficial in heart failure prevention within the individuals aged less than 75 years subgroup, an idea that to date was substantiated only by much smaller studies or in less diverse patient populations." the authors conclude.