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Symposium: Calcium-Related Chronic Diseases in Ethnic Minorities: Can Dairy Consumption Reduce Health Disparities?

Reducing Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease Risk of African Americans with Diet: Focus on the Facts¹

Molly E. Reusser^* and David A. McCarron^,2

^* Academic Network, LLC, Portland, Oregon and Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, California

² To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dmccarron{at}academicnetwork.com.

Hypertension is more common and more severe in African Americans than in other population groups in the United States, placing them at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and end-stage renal disease. Whereas past efforts to reduce blood pressure (BP) via the diet centered on manipulating isolated nutrients, there are now conclusive data demonstrating that it is not single dietary components but the overall dietary pattern that has the greatest influence on BP. A nutritionally complete diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods has been clearly proven to significantly lower BP in all population groups. This diet, commonly referred to as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, has been tested in randomized, controlled trials emphasizing African American populations and documented the greatest beneficial effects in hypertensive African Americans. Improving diet quality has been shown to be simply implemented without adverse effects such as symptoms of lactose maldigestion. It is also known to beneficially affect other cardiovascular risk factors and is in keeping with dietary recommendations for prevention of some cancers and osteoporosis. This paper reviews the current data relating dietary patterns to BP control, and advocates dietary recommendations that can accomplish their intended objective of enhancing the health of Americans by promoting safe, feasible, and proven-effective means of doing so. In the case of hypertension prevention and treatment, and thus the reduction of cardiovascular disease risk, overall diet quality should be the primary focus of nutritional recommendations.

KEY WORDS: • blood pressure • diet therapy • blacks • cardiovascular disease risk

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