ACC: DASH Diet Grocery Delivery Program Aids Blood Pressure, Cholesterol

FRIDAY, April 3, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Black adults with high blood pressure (BP) who receive dietitian counseling and home deliveries of groceries aligned with the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet experience improvements in BP at three months, according to a study published online March 28 in Nature Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, held from March 28 to 30 in New Orleans.Stephen P. Juraschek, M.D., Ph.D., from Harvard University in Boston, and colleagues evaluated whether local groceries ordered with the assistance of a dietitian to align with the DASH diet might lower BP among Black adults who were being actively treated for hypertension and lived in communities with few grocery stores. Analysis included 173 individuals with systolic BP of 120 mm Hg to <150 mm Hg despite active hypertension treatment who were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of weekly home-delivered DASH groceries with dietitian counseling or receipt of three $500 stipends at four-week intervals.The researchers found that mean baseline systolic BP/diastolic BP was 130.5/77.8 mm Hg. At three months, systolic BP changed by −7.0 mm Hg in the DASH groceries group and by −2.0 mm Hg in the self-directed group. Among the DASH grocery group, at three months, diastolic BP changed by −1.8 mm Hg and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol changed by −7.0 mg dL−1, compared to the self-directed grocery group. The beneficial effects of DASH grocery delivery on BP were partially maintained three months after the intervention finished."Everybody got to choose their own groceries for themselves and their families according to DASH principles with the assistance of a dietitian," Juraschek said in a statement. "People were able to come up with different combinations to achieve these goals based on their food preferences."Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)More Information.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

ACC: DASH Diet Grocery Delivery Program Aids Blood Pressure, Cholesterol

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