The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed the DASH diet, a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat that can decrease heart disease.
In the April 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, it was discovered that healthy, middle-aged women who closely followed the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet have lower rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than women who do not follow such diets.
The Nurses' Health Study, which was funded by National Institutes of Health, followed 88,517 female nurses, whose ages ranged from 34 to 59 at the beginning of the study in 1980. None of them had diabetes or cardiovascular disease at the inception of the study. They reported their typical dietary fare seven times over the course of the 24-year study, with each report reflecting their dietary habits from each previous year.
Researchers then analyzed their diets and assigned them a DASH score, according to their intake of eight food and nutritional factors. The women who had the highest DASH scores had the lowest risk for heart disease and stroke.
Closely following a DASH diet plan resulted in a 24% reduction in heart disease risk and 18% lower risk of stroke when compared to those with the lowest DASH scores.
A high score meant a diet plan whose menu included a large amount of fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and whole grains and consumption of low-fat dairy products in quantities close to the recommended dietary guidelines. Consumption of processed and red meats, sodium, and sweetened beverages led to lower scores.
Blood samples revealed that the nurses in the higher DASH score groups had the lowest levels of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP), two compounds that signal inflammation associated with heart disease.
The DASH diet menu is available on the NIH website.
For more Health News, please go to http://www.transworldnews.com/NewsList.aspx?cat=10&wcat=7
