Very Low Carbohydrate Diets Keep Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar, and Weight in Control

These conditions can trigger stroke, end-stage renal disease, myocardial infarction, and premature death. While first-line treatment for these individuals should be a diet and lifestyle intervention, experts disagree about which diet should be recommended (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
2013 AHA/ACC Guideline on Lifestyle Management to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines

).

Effect of DASH Dietary Patterns and Very Low Carbohydrate Diets on Metabolic Outcomes

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods, restricts saturated and total fat, and is lower in sodium. A DASH diet is the standard-of-care dietary recommendation for blood pressure (BP) control by the American Heart Association (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Comparing Very Low-Carbohydrate vs DASH Diets for Overweight or Obese Adults With Hypertension and Prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Trial

).

No studies to date have directly compared a DASH vs VLC diet for efficacy in improving measures of hypertension, diabetes, and weight loss in this population.

Researchers randomized 94 adults with the aforementioned conditions, using a 2 x 2 diet-by-support factorial design, comparing a very low-carbohydrate (VLC) or ketogenic diet versus a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.

Additionally, they compared results with and without extra support activities, such as mindful eating, positive emotion regulation, social support, and cooking education.

Using statistical analyses, researchers found that the VLC diet led to greater improvement in estimated mean systolic blood pressure, greater improvement in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and greater improvement in weight compared to the DASH diet (3^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Behavioral Counseling Interventions to Promote a Healthy Diet and Physical Activity for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Adults With Cardiovascular Risk FactorsUS Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

Go to source). The addition of extra support did not have a statistically significant effect on outcomes.

For adults with hypertension, prediabetes, or type 2 diabetes, and who are overweight or obese, a VLC diet demonstrated greater improvements in systolic blood pressure, glycemic control, and weight over four months compared to a DASH diet.

However, the effects of the DASH diet were dependent on the extra support, suggesting that the DASH diet might need to be integrated with psychological support to induce clinically meaningful reductions in BP, like findings of other low-fat dietary interventions.

These results provide initial evidence that a VLC dietary pattern might be more appropriate than the DASH dietary pattern for short-term disease management for these high-risk adults and thus might have implications for clinical practice guidelines. Future research with larger samples, longer follow-up periods, and long-term outcomes is warranted.

References :

1. 2013 AHA/ACC Guideline on Lifestyle Management to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines
   – (https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/01.cir.0000437740.48606.d1
   )
2. Comparing Very Low-Carbohydrate vs DASH Diets for Overweight or Obese Adults With Hypertension and Prediabetes or Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Trial
   – (https://www.annfammed.org/content/21/3/256)
3. Behavioral Counseling Interventions to Promote a Healthy Diet and Physical Activity for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Adults With Cardiovascular Risk FactorsUS Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement
   – (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2773280
   )

Source: Eurekalert