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Edited July 2005

The DASH Diet

For a complete research poster about the DASH Diet, click here. This diet, mentioned in Harvard Women's Health Watch, April, 1998, was most effective in a clinical trial in reducing blood pressure:

EVEN BETTER: The WELL Diet

Caryl A Nowson et al, Blood pressure change with weight loss is affected by diet type in men Am J Clin Nutr 2005 81: 983-98 Background: Weight loss reduces blood pressure,… Objective: Our goal was to assess the effect on blood pressureof 2 weight-reduction diets: a low-fat diet (LF diet) and amoderate-sodium, high-potassium, high-calcium, low-fat DASHdiet (WELL diet). Design: After baseline measurements, 63 men were randomly assignedto either the WELL or the LF diet for 12 wk, and both diet groupsundertook 0.5 h of moderate physical activity on most days ofthe week…Conclusions: For a comparable 5-kg weight loss, a diet highin low-fat dairy products, vegetables, and fruit (the WELL diet)resulted in a greater decrease in blood pressure than did theLF diet. This dietary approach to achieving weight reductionmay confer an additional benefit in reducing blood pressurein those who are overweight.