Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Center for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA. liese@sc.edu
OBJECTIVE The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet has been widely promoted; however, little is known about its impact on type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We evaluated the association of the DASH diet with incidence of type 2 diabetes among 862 participants of the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS) who completed a 1-year food frequency questionnaire at baseline. Type 2 diabetes odds ratios (ORs) were estimated at tertiles of the DASH score. RESULTS An inverse association was observed in whites (tertile 2 vs. tertile 1, OR 0.66 [95% CI 0.29-1.48]) that became significant for the most extreme contrast (tertile 3 vs. tertile 1, 0.31 [0.13-0.75]), with adjustment for covariates. No association was observed in blacks or Hispanics (tertile 2 vs. tertile 1, 1.16 [0.61-2.18 ]; tertile 3 vs. tertile 1, 1.34 [0.70-2.58 ]). CONCLUSIONS Adherence to the DASH dietary pattern, which is rich in vegetables, fruit, and low-fat dairy products, may have the potential to prevent type 2 diabetes.