DASH diet may protect against heart failure

Individuals with greater adherence to The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet have reduced risks of heart failure (HF) and HF-related death, as suggested in a study.

Researchers used data from the UK Biobank and identified 124,777 participants (mean age 56.1 years, 56 percent female) who were free of HF at baseline. Diet was assessed using 24-h dietary recall. DASH scores were then categorized into quintiles.

The primary outcome was a composite of incident HF or HF-related death. Secondary outcomes included incident hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

At baseline, 7 percent of participants had diabetes, and 36 percent had hypertension. Over a mean follow-up of 12 years, 2,931 HF events and 441 HF-related deaths occurred.

Compared with participants in the lowest DASH adherence quintile, those in the highest quintile had a 21-percent lower risk of the primary outcome (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.79, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.70–0.89; p<0.001) and comorbidities (aHR, 0.89, 95 percent CI, 0.79–1.00; p<0.05).

The highest vs lowest quintile of DASH adherence was also associated with reduced risk of hypertension (aHR, 0.91, 95 percent CI, 0.86–0.96; p<0.001) and T2DM (aHR, 0.82, 95 percent CI, 0.75–0.90; p<0.001).

The findings suggest that the DASH dietary pattern may be associated with HF risk through additional pathways beyond its effects on hypertension and T2DM, with meaningful risk reductions observed for the primary outcome despite generally low adherence to recommended DASH diet targets, according to the researchers.

Overall, the study supports stronger incorporation of the DASH dietary pattern into HF prevention guidelines.