Research

Mixed

Adherence to the DASH dietary pattern significantly reduces the incidence of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes in prospective cohort studies, and improves cardiometabolic risk factors (blood pressure, lipids, HbA1c, body weight) in controlled trials.

Adopt the DASH dietary pattern by prioritizing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy while limiting saturated fats, red meat, and added sugars. This approach is strongly associated with lower risks of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, as well as improved blood pressure and weight management.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
The DASH dietary pattern was associated with decreased incident cardiovascular disease (RR, 0.80 (0.76–0.85)), coronary heart disease (0.79 (0.71–0.88)), stroke (0.81 (0.72–0.92)), and diabetes (0.82 (0.74–0.92)) in prospective cohort studies and decreased systolic (MD, −5.2 mmHg (95% CI, −7.0 to −3.4)) and diastolic (−2.60 mmHg (−3.50 to −1.70)) blood pressure, Total-C (−0.20 mmol/L (−0.31 to −0.10)), LDL-C (−0.10 mmol/L (−0.20 to −0.01)), HbA1c (−0.53% (−0.62, −0.43)), fasting blood insulin (−0.15 µU/mL (−0.22 to −0.08)), and body weight (−1.42 kg (−2.03 to −0.82)) in controlled trials.
Laura Chiavaroli et al. · Nutrients · 2019

Why this rating

Evidence is moderate for BP but low/very low for disease incidence due to observational nature and heterogeneity.

Source

DASH Dietary Pattern and Cardiometabolic Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

Laura Chiavaroli et al. · Nutrients · 2019

DOI 10.3390/nu11020338

Meta-analysis · 7 studiesCited 520×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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