BY PATRICIA CHANEY
Nov. 13, 2018
What sets the DASH diet apart for diabetes care from fad diets that are often hard to maintain.
Following a healthy eating plan is key to managing diabetes nutrition. You're probably confronted with many diet options suggesting how to eat to keep your blood sugar in check.
Unlike fad diets that are often hard to maintain, the DASH diet — long touted for its benefits in lowering high blood pressure — is also a top choice in diabetes care and one that's easy to start. Let's look at what sets it apart.
DASH and Diabetes Nutrition
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. Its primary aim is to lower blood pressure. Diabetes and high blood pressure tend to go hand-in-hand: More than half of all adults with diabetes have hypertension, according to research in Diabetes Spectrum. The journal also reports that the DASH diet may improve insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia (an abnormally high concentration of fats in the blood) and obesity in addition to lowering blood pressure.
Because of the diet's effect on weight, insulin sensitivity and glycemic control, it works well for people with prediabetes and type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The Diabetes Spectrum research suggests the diet may decrease your future risk of type 2 diabetes by 20 percent.
Further research in Diabetes Management also found this diet helped lessen episodes of hyperglycemia (excess glucose in the blood) and control blood glucose levels in children with Type 1 diabetes. As you know, moderating blood glucose levels is an important part of diabetes care, to prevent damage from diabetes and to protect your heart.
