Research
Mixed
The DASH diet is the most effective dietary pattern for lowering blood pressure compared to other diets including low-fat, Nordic, and Paleolithic diets, and it significantly reduces the risk of developing Metabolic Syndrome.
Follow the DASH diet to manage blood pressure and reduce Metabolic Syndrome risk. Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and low-fat dairy. Limit saturated fats to 6% of calories and sodium to under 2300 mg/day. This approach is more effective for blood pressure than low-fat diets.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
on comparing the antihypertensive effects of the DASH diet with 13 other eating patterns (including low-fat diet, Nordic diet, MedDiet, Paleolithic diet and low-sodium diet), the DASH diet was the most effective, especially in comparison with low-fat diets
Why this rating
Supported by meta-analyses of RCTs and cohort studies.
Source
Dietary Strategies for Metabolic Syndrome: A Comprehensive Review
Sara Castro‐Barquero et al. · Nutrients · 2020
DOI 10.3390/nu12102983
narrative_reviewCited 483×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) significantly reduces the risk of developing Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) and improves individual MetS criteria such as blood pressure and waist circumference.Good
- Plant-based diets (vegetarian/vegan) reduce blood pressure and body weight, and lower the risk of Metabolic Syndrome, primarily through high fiber, antioxidant intake, and reduced consumption of red/processed meats.Good
- Very-low carbohydrate ketogenic diets (<10% carbs) promote weight loss and improve lipid profiles (lower triglycerides, higher HDL) primarily through energy restriction and ketone body production, rather than macronutrient partitioning alone.Moderate
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