Abstract
It has been suggested that the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet as a plant-based dietary pattern can be useful in improvement of risk factors of metabolic syndrome (MetS). We designed a study to evaluate the effect of the DASH diet on insulin resistance and lipid accumulation product (LAP) in subjects with MetS. 60 subjects with MetS were assigned into two groups including the intervention group and the control group. The intervention group received DASH diet and the control group received a common healthy diet for 12 weeks. We measured fasting plasma glucose (FPG), triglyceride and glucose (TyG) index, metabolic score for insulin resistance (METS-IR) and LAP before and after intervention. We utilized SPSS software version 24 and an intention-to-treat method for data analysis. A total of 59 subjects completed the trial. After intervention a significant difference was observed between groups in FPG (P < 0.001), TyG index (P < 0.001) and LAP (P = 0.01). However, there was no significant difference between groups in values of METS-IR (P = 0.27). There was a significant reduction in the intervention group compared to the control group in FPG (-7.86 ± 10.08 vs. 0.97 ± 15.51; P = 0.01), TyG index (-0.20 ± 0.14 vs. 0.02 ± 0.11; P < 0.001), METS-IR (-2.50 ± 1.99 vs. -0.53 ± 2.21; P = 0.001) and LAP (-20.06 ± 12.02 vs. -5.87 ± 15.17; P < 0.001). Adherence to DASH diet can reduce some cardiovascular risk factors in subjects with MetS. Further clinical trials are required to reach a firm conclusion.