Most blood pressure benefits seen in the first three weeks of the diet
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, June 18, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension for Diabetes (DASH4D) diet with lower sodium is tied to clinically meaningful blood pressure reduction in people with diabetes, according to a study published online June 9 in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Scott J. Pilla, M.D., from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues examined the effects of a DASH-style diet and sodium reduction on blood pressure in adults with type 2 diabetes. The analysis included 102 adults with type 2 diabetes, a systolic blood pressure of 120 to 159 mm Hg, and a diastolic blood pressure of <100 mm Hg, who were randomly assigned to a sequence of four diets, each for five weeks: (1) DASH4D diet with lower sodium, (2) DASH4D diet with higher sodium, (3) comparison (typical U.S.) diet with lower sodium, and (4) comparison diet with higher sodium (reference).
The researchers found that compared with the comparison diet with higher sodium, the DASH4D diet with lower sodium reduced end-of-period systolic blood pressure by 4.6 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 2.3 mm Hg. The first three weeks of each diet were when most blood pressure reduction occurred. The effect of sodium reduction appeared stronger than the effect of the DASH4D diet. For each diet, adverse events were infrequent.
“Most people in this study were taking more than one blood pressure medication, but we found that you can lower it further with dietary change,” coauthor Lawrence Appel, M.D., also from Johns Hopkins University, said in a statement.
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