Stephanie Huang
1003084627
Effects of DASH Diet on Cardiovascular Disease The DASH diet was designed to lower blood pressure for those with hypertension. Since hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, this diet’s effect on reducing the cardiovascular disease risk has been studied by many researchers. Through numerous studies, the DASH diet is shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Through randomized control trials, Appel et al. (1997) and Obarzanek et al. (2001) found that the DASH diet resulted in reductions in risk factors for cardiovascular disease. For example, Appel et al. (1997) found that the group that was fed the DASH diet had lower diastolic and systolic blood pressure than the control group that was …show more content…
(2001) for their effect on cholesterol levels. They found that the DASH diet resulted in a statistically significant reduction in LDL and fasting total cholesterol levels, while the high fruit and vegetable diet had no significant effects (Obarzenek et al. 2001). This further supports the findings of Appel et al. (1997), as the effectiveness of the DASH diet in reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease is again shown to be more effective than simply increasing vegetable intake. In both of these studies, participants were fed a randomly assigned diet, so a causal link between the DASH diet and the reduction of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease was determined. However, due to the short length of these studies, disease outcomes could not be tested. To test disease outcomes and its relationship with the DASH diet, Fung et al. (2008) conducted a cohort study. This study was well designed, as they had multiple validated FFQs throughout the study to note dietary changes and a lifestyle and medical information questionnaire to note confounds (Fung et al. 2008). After adjusting for confounders, they found a statistically significant inverse association between levels of adherence to the DASH diet and cardiovascular disease risk (Fung et al. 2008). However, because their sample population consisted of only females, their conclusion may have gender
1003084627
Effects of DASH Diet on Cardiovascular Disease The DASH diet was designed to lower blood pressure for those with hypertension. Since hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, this diet’s effect on reducing the cardiovascular disease risk has been studied by many researchers. Through numerous studies, the DASH diet is shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Through randomized control trials, Appel et al. (1997) and Obarzanek et al. (2001) found that the DASH diet resulted in reductions in risk factors for cardiovascular disease. For example, Appel et al. (1997) found that the group that was fed the DASH diet had lower diastolic and systolic blood pressure than the control group that was …show more content…
(2001) for their effect on cholesterol levels. They found that the DASH diet resulted in a statistically significant reduction in LDL and fasting total cholesterol levels, while the high fruit and vegetable diet had no significant effects (Obarzenek et al. 2001). This further supports the findings of Appel et al. (1997), as the effectiveness of the DASH diet in reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease is again shown to be more effective than simply increasing vegetable intake. In both of these studies, participants were fed a randomly assigned diet, so a causal link between the DASH diet and the reduction of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease was determined. However, due to the short length of these studies, disease outcomes could not be tested. To test disease outcomes and its relationship with the DASH diet, Fung et al. (2008) conducted a cohort study. This study was well designed, as they had multiple validated FFQs throughout the study to note dietary changes and a lifestyle and medical information questionnaire to note confounds (Fung et al. 2008). After adjusting for confounders, they found a statistically significant inverse association between levels of adherence to the DASH diet and cardiovascular disease risk (Fung et al. 2008). However, because their sample population consisted of only females, their conclusion may have gender