Diet to lower blood pressure also improved other factors in cardiac health

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Public health advocates frequently cite the high-sodium diet of Americans as a factor in the country’s heart health. Sodium is clearly associated with hypertension, a major risk factor for CVD, but tightly controlled studies have shown a direct causal link between high sodium intake and cardiovascular damage, heart attack, or stroke. There is little to show.

In a new analysis, researchers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) examined three cardiovascular biomarkers that are measurable indicators of cardiovascular health in the blood. diet It has a direct effect on heart health.analysis Blood sample From participants in clinical trials who adhere to a rigorous diet, the team has shown that a diet that has been shown to lower high blood pressure, known as the DASH diet, reduces inflammation.Survey results published in Journal of American Universities of CardiovascularAlso, the DASH diet has been shown to reduce heart damage and tension, either alone or in combination with a low sodium diet.

“Our study represents some of the strongest evidence that diet has a direct impact on heart damage, and our findings show that diet interventions are cardiovascular in a relatively short period of time. It shows that it can improve the risk factors of the disease, “said the first corresponding author, Dr. Stephen Jurashek. , BIDMC and Harvard Medical School (HMS) Associate Professor of Medicine. “The data emphasize the importance of a lifestyle that includes a sodium-reduced dash diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to minimize long-term heart damage.”

Dash, or diets to stop high blood pressure, diets have been shown to lower blood pressure. It emphasizes the intake of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, chicken, fish and nuts, while limiting beverages containing saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol, lean meats, sweets and sugar. A well-studied diet developed in the 1990s with the specific goal of lowering blood pressure has also been shown to prevent cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. Cardiovascular disease..

The current study is based on two recent analyzes in which Juraschek and colleagues found that the DASH diet reduced markers of heart damage, tension, and inflammation. However, these previous studies did not specifically investigate the effects of sodium reduction alone or in combination with a DASH-style diet program on cardiovascular health.

In the team’s current analysis, Juraschek and colleagues, including senior author Kenneth J. Mukamal, MD (Associate Professor of Medicine at BIDMC and HMS), found specimens preserved from DASH-Sodium studies conducted at four medical centers in the United States. Was analyzed. In a previous study, researchers enrolled 412 participants with elevated blood pressure and randomly assigned them to either the DASH diet or a control diet designed to reflect a typical American diet. .. Within these two groups, each participant was assigned to one of three sodium levels (low, medium, high) over a four-week period. In a controlled feeding study, all meals and light meals were provided to participants who ate the main dish once daily under observation and consumed the rest offsite.

Juraschek and team have shown to analyze the specimens stored in this study to predict three biomarkers, or cardiovascular events in adults without known cardiovascular disease, measurable in blood. I examined the substance. Biomarkers, known as sensitive cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), have three different biomarkers. Pathways of symptomatic heart injury: injury, stress, inflammation, respectively.

The analysis revealed that among participants in the DASH diet, biomarkers associated with heart damage and inflammation were reduced by 18{b5d304c96e94113bdfc523ff4218a1efff4746200bdb9eeb3214a56a1302f2e4} and 13{b5d304c96e94113bdfc523ff4218a1efff4746200bdb9eeb3214a56a1302f2e4}, respectively. Participants who reduced the effects of the dash diet and sodium had no significant effect on inflammation, but reduced biomarkers for injury and stress by up to 20{b5d304c96e94113bdfc523ff4218a1efff4746200bdb9eeb3214a56a1302f2e4} and 23{b5d304c96e94113bdfc523ff4218a1efff4746200bdb9eeb3214a56a1302f2e4}, respectively.

The DASH diet alone did not reduce the biomarkers of stress, but the stress biomarkers of study participants on a low-salt diet were reduced by 19{b5d304c96e94113bdfc523ff4218a1efff4746200bdb9eeb3214a56a1302f2e4} regardless of whether they followed the DASH diet or the control diet. However, lowering sodium alone had no beneficial effect on heart damage or inflammation.

“Using sensitive markers of asymptomatic cardiovascular disease, we have shown how two dietary strategies can improve different mechanisms of asymptomatic heart injury in a relatively short period of time. The improvement in the risk factors for cardiovascular disease observed from the reduced DASH diet also reduces the concomitant cardiac damage, “said Juraschek. “Our study has important clinical implications, and these findings should strengthen public commitment to DASH dietary patterns and public policy to promote lower sodium intake in the United States and around the world. ”