Background: The dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) encourages high fruit, vegetable, and lean protein consumption and low salt, red meat, and fat intake to prevent or treat hypertension. However, besides hypertension, adherence to this diet has been shown to decrease other cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: This study assessed the relationship between the DASH diet and cardiovascular risk factors in a cross‑, sectional study of 2, 831 adults chosen by multistage cluster sampling from 27 counties of Khuzestan province, Iran. DASH scores were calculated using data obtained from a qualitative food frequency questionnaire. Regression models were used to evaluate the association of DASH scores and common cardiovascular risk factors. Results: Significant trends were observed across quintiles of DASH scores for systolic blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and its components (p < 0·, 05). After adjusting for potential confounders such as sex, age, ethnicity, residence, wealth score, physical activity, energy intake, and family history of heart disease, the multiple regression analysis for each cardiovascular risk factor revealed that being in the highest quintile of total DASH score (OR = 0. 72, 95% CI 0. 52–, 0. 99) was negatively associated with hyperglycemia. Conclusions: This study showed a positive relationship between DASH diet adherence and lower serum levels of glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Background: Although empirically-derived dietary patterns have been examined in relation to depression, limited data are available linking theory-based dietary patterns to psychological health.Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between adherence to DASH-style diet and psychological health among Iranian adults.Methods: This cross-sectional study was done among 3846 Iranian general adults in Isfahan, Iran. Dietary assessment was conducted using a validated 106-item dish-based semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire.To investigate participant’s adherence to DASHstyle diet, we created DASH score based on earlier publications focusing on 8 components (fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, dairy products, and grains, sweetened beverages and sweets, sodium, and red and processed meats). Participants were classified into three categories based on their DASH score [low (≤40), moderate (41-50), and high adherence (≥51)]. Psychological health was examined by means of validated Hospital-Anxiety- Depression Scale (HADS) and GHQ questionnaires.Depression, anxiety and psychological distress were defined based on standard criteria.Results: We found that moderate adherence to DASH dietary pattern was associated with lower odds of depression (OR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.59-0.90, Ptrend=0.63) compared with those with the lowest adherence. In our stratified analyses, these associations remained significant for women (0.70; 0.54-0.91) and for normal-weight participants (0.70; 0.52-0.92). Moreover, after controlling for potential confounders, an inverse association was observed between high adherence to DASH-style diet and anxiety in normal-weight participants (0.61; 0.37-0.98). Such associations were also seen between moderate adherence to DASH diet and anxiety in overweight or obese individuals (0.63; 0.42-0.95). We failed to find any significant association between consumption of DASH diet and psychological distress.Conclusion: We found an inverse association between moderate adherence to DASH dietary pattern and depression.The inverse association between DASH diet and anxiety was only observed in normal-weight participants.Further prospective studies are required to investigate to confirm these findings.

Background and objective: During the past decades obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities, such as cardiovascular diseases, have become global epidemics with incresing trends. Earlier studies have shown that adherence to the dietary approach to stop hypertension (DASH) diet favorably affects weight control.The aim of this study was to investigate the association between adherence to the DASH diet and obesity among female-nurses in the City of Isfahan, Iran.Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 420 female-nurses with a mean age of 34 years (SD 0.41) working in the City of Isfahan hospitals, selected by the multistage cluster random sampling method. Adherence to the DASH diet (in the previous year) was assessed using a validated special food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). A DASH score based on 8 food and nutrient components (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, low- fat dairy, red and processed meats, sweetened beverages, and sodium) was calculated. In a DASH diet pattern high intakes of the first five groups and low intakes of meat, sweetened beverages and salt are desirable. First the participants were classified based on quartile categories of their intakes of these components. The scores were then summed up to construct the overall DASH score that ranged from 8 to 32. Data on lifestyle, socioeconomic status and medical information were collected using a questionnaire. To compare general characteristics and the DASH scores across quartiles, we used the 1-way ANOVA and chi-square tests after adjusting for age and energy intake.Results: Increased adherence to the DASH diet was associated with older age (P<0.01) and lower waist circumference (P=0.04). There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of general obesity between the extreme quartiles of the DASH diet score. Neither was there any association between the DASH diet and obesity after adjustment for age and energy intake and other confounding factors. However, with further adjustment for dietary factors, those in the upper quartile of DASH score were 71% less likely to suffer from general obesity as compared with those in the lowest quartile (OR: 0.29; 95% CI: 0.09-0.97). Finally, consumption of the DASH diet was not significantly associated with central obesity, but after adjustment for age and energy intake, the association became significant (OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.14-0.96).Conclusions: It can be concluded that adherence to the DASH diet is associated with a reduced risk of general obesity. This association remains statistically significant even after adjustment for potential confounding factors.

Background: Despite the growing body of evidence from western societies on the association of dietary patterns and stroke, limited data are available in this regard from developing countries. This study was conducted to examine the association between adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and risk of stroke among Iranian population.Methods: This hospital-based case-control study, included 195 stroke patients and 195 controls, was conducted in Alzahra University Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. Cases were stroke patients that were hospitalized in neurology ward of Alzahra University Hospital. Controls were randomly selected among hospitalized patients in orthopedic or surgical wards of this center. A validated FFQ was used to assess the usual dietary intakes. We constructed the DASH diet score based on food and nutrients emphasized or minimized in the DASH diet.Results: The prevalence of stroke among those in the top quartile of DASH diet score was 40%, which was 15% lower than that in bottom quartile; this difference was marginally significant (P=0.10). After controlling for age, sex and total energy intake, adherence to the DASH diet was inversely associated with the risk of stroke (OR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.28; 0.98). These associations remained significant even after additional controlling for physical activity and smoking; such that individuals in the highest quartile of the DASH diet score had 58% lower risk of stroke than those in the lowest category (OR: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.81).However, after further adjustment for BMI, this association became marginally significant (OR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.27, 1.08) indicating an obesity-dependent association.Conclusion: We found an inverse relationship between the DASH style diet and prevalence of stroke. Prospective studies are needed to confirm this association.

Background and Objectives: The prevalence of obesity is rising rapidly worldwide. Diet modification is one of the best possible solutions for prevention and treatment of obesity. One of the diets suggested in this context is the DASH diet (an antihypertensive diet). The present study was designed to determine the effectiveness of this diet on anthropometric indices and body composition in healthy obese women. Methods: This study is a randomized parallel controlled trial, carried out on 44 healthy obese women. After an adjustment period, the participants were assigned to intervention (DASH diet) and control (usual dietary advice) groups. Anthropometric indices and body composition were assessed every 2 weeks. Data were analyzed using paired sample t-, independent sample t-, and analysis of covariance tests. Results: After following the DASH eating pattern for three months, variables of weight (p=0. 04), body mass index (p=0. 03), waist circumference (p=0. 01), and waist to hip ratio (p=0. 02) significantly decreased compared to the control group. However, no significant change was observed in body composition of the participants (p≥ 0. 05). Conclusion: Given the high prevalence of obesity, adherence to the DASH diet, as health promotion model, is recommended for prevention of various disorders, especially obesity.

Background and aims: Paraoxonase is a HDL related enzyme, which seems to have roles in antioxidant protection in the human body. The present study was set with the aim of investigating the effects of DASH diet, rich in antioxidants, on paraoxonase enzyme activity in obese or overweight women.Methods: This study is a randomized parallel controlled trial, carried out on 44 (22 intervention and 22 control) healthy overweight and obese women in Isfahan. The intervention period consisted of 3 months of a control or a DASH diet. Diet adherence, anthropometric parameters and blood pressure were checked every 2 weeks. Paraoxonase activity, phenylacetate of paraoxonase was analyzed at the beginning and end of the trial. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. P£0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: No significant change was observed in paraoxonase activity or phenylacetate of paraoxonase between two groups (P=0.26 and P=0.13). Besides, The DASH diet resulted in significant decrease in BMI and Waist circumference (P=0.03 and P=0.01, respectively) but fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol changes were not statistically significant in both groups.Conclusion: It is likely that paraoxonase activity do not change in response to DASH diet. However, the effects of nutritive factors on activity of this enzyme need further studies.