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Study under review: Comparison of the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet and a higher-fat DASH diet on blood pressure and lipids and lipoproteins: a randomized controlled trial
Introduction
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is one of the most widely recommended diets for the treatment and prevention of high blood pressure and dyslipidemia. One element of the DASH eating plan is limiting foods that are high in saturated fat. This recommendation came about[1] from observational and experimental evidence suggesting that vegetarian diets and those lower in saturated fat are associated with more favorable blood pressure and blood lipid health markers.
Accumulating evidence over the last decade has brought saturated fat back into the spotlight, suggesting that it may not be as detrimental to cardiovascular disease risk as once thought. It is possible that the effects of saturated fat depend on dietary context. For instance, it has been shown[2] that replacing dietary saturated fat with carbohydrates from refined starches and added sugars was associated with no reduction in heart disease risk, but replacement with whole grains had a protective effect.
Research has yet to evaluate what effect a high intake of saturated fat would have in the context of the DASH diet, which is traditionally higher in carbohydrates (50-60%) and lower in total fat (20-25%). The study under review aimed to fill this knowledge gap by examining what occurs when some of the carbohydrate is replaced by fat in a DASH-like eating pattern.
Limiting saturated fat is one element of the DASH diet, but no research has been conducted to examine what occurs when saturated fat is not limited. The current study examined the effects of eating a high saturated fat DASH-like diet on blood pressure and blood lipids.
Who and what was studied?
What were the findings?
What does the study really tell us?
The big picture
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I know?
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