Home-Delivered Groceries Boost Heart Health In Food Deserts, Study Says

Key TakeawaysHome-delivered groceries can help people living in food deserts improve their heart healthPeople getting home deliveries had lower blood pressure and cholesterol after three monthsThe groceries followed the heart-healthy DASH diet.WEDNESDAY, April 1, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Home-delivered groceries can help people who live in food deserts improve their heart health, a new study says.Black adults experienced a significant reduction in both blood pressure and cholesterol after receiving home deliveries of groceries selected under the heart-friendly DASH diet, researchers reported at an American College of Cardiology meeting in New Orleans.“We’re very excited by the magnitude of the effects—it’s really above and beyond what we anticipated,” said lead researcher Dr. Stephen Juraschek, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.“This study shows a real path forward for self-management among individuals with hypertension,” he said in a news release.For the study, researchers recruited 176 people with an average age of 60 living in Boston-area communities with few grocery stores and lower average incomes.All the participants had resting systolic blood pressure between 120 mm/Hg and 149 mm/Hg, even though they were being treated for high blood pressure. Systolic is the top number of a blood pressure reading, and represents the pressure within blood vessels during a heartbeat.Half of the participants received personalized guidance from a dietitian and home-delivered groceries based on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, researchers said.These groceries were high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes and lean proteins, researchers said. They also were based on four principles intended to help participants’ heart health:Meals were prepared with seasonings other than salt.Foods had a potassium-sodium ratio of 2 to 1.Saturated fats were restricted to less than 7% of total calories.Intake of processed foods or sugary items was limited.“Everybody got to choose their own groceries for themselves and their families according to DASH principles with the assistance of a dietitian,” Juraschek said. “We tried to keep things as general and simple as possible and allow for choice, so people were able to come up with different combinations to achieve these goals based on their food preferences.”The other half of participants received $500 a month for groceries and a pamphlet explaining the DASH diet, but no help selecting or obtaining their food.After three months, people with home-delivered groceries had an average reduction in their systolic blood pressure of 7 mm/Hg, compared with a 2 mm/Hg reduction among folks buying groceries on their own.They also had a 7 mg/dL decrease in their “bad” LDL cholesterol levels compared to those left to their own devices.These sorts of proactive programs can help address barriers that some face in accessing foods that are heart-healthy, researchers concluded.“What’s exciting about a nutrition approach is that not only can there be multiple effects on blood pressure and cholesterol, but it can also be preventive moving forward, without some of the adverse effects or interactions you might see with some medications,” Juraschek said.He presented the study Saturday at the ACC meeting.Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.More informationThe National Institutes of Health has more on the DASH diet.SOURCE: American College of Cardiology, news release, March 28, 2026 .What This Means For YouPeople following the DASH diet can lower their blood pressure, but it might be hard to buy the proper groceries..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Home-Delivered Groceries Boost Heart Health In Food Deserts, Study Says

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