Key result
DASH diet shifts serum metabolites, with 8 metabolite interactions linked to blood pressure changes.
Why the study?
Previous studies identified metabolites associated with the DASH diet and blood pressure reduction using untargeted approaches in relative units, which is not directly translatable to clinical use. The extent to which these diet-related metabolites correlate with absolute measures from targeted assays remained poorly characterized.
Does the DASH diet alter absolute serum concentrations of targeted diet-related metabolites and interact with these metabolites to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to a control diet in feeding trial participants?
RCT (n=561)
Randomized
Does the DASH diet alter absolute serum concentrations of targeted diet-related metabolites and interact with these metabolites to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to a control diet in feeding trial participants?
Targeted metabolomics confirmed key DASH diet-related serum biomarkers in absolute concentrations and demonstrated significant metabolite-diet interactions associated with blood pressure reduction.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Targeted metabolite assays may support DASH response monitoring; leaves open whether they improve adherence or outcomes in practice.
BACKGROUND: Blood pressure decreases in response to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. Previous studies have identified metabolites associated with DASH diet and blood pressure reduction. Yet, these metabolites were quantified in relative units using untargeted approaches, which is not directly translatable to clinical use. The extent to which these diet-related metabolites correlate with absolute measures from targeted assays remains poorly characterized. METHODS: We measured serum concentrations of 15 metabolites previously identified as key differentiators between the DASH and control diets using targeted assays in the DASH (n = 216) and DASH-Sodium (n = 345) randomized controlled feeding trials. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to assess pairwise correlations between targeted and untargeted measurements. Multivariable linear regression was used to assess associations between targeted and untargeted measurements of DASH-related metabolites, to assess associations between metabolites and changes in blood pressure, and test for interactions by diet assignment. RESULTS: In the DASH trial, relative and absolute concentrations of 7 serum metabolites were strongly correlated (r = 0.91 to 0.99). The DASH diet intervention increased absolute serum concentrations of N-methylproline the most, and significantly decreased theobromine. Absolute concentrations of 12 metabolites in the DASH trial and 10 in the DASH-Sodium trial were significantly different between DASH vs control diet interventions. Eight significant metabolite-diet interactions were observed for changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure in both trials (all P for interaction <0.05). CONCLUSION: Targeted metabolomics confirmed key DASH-related biomarkers and enhanced the reproducibility of identified mechanisms through which the DASH diet lowers blood pressure.
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Yang et al. (2026) conducted an RCT in Hypertension / Blood pressure regulation (n=561). DASH diet vs. Control diet was evaluated on Absolute serum concentrations of 15 DASH-related metabolites and their association with changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.91 to 0.99, p=<0.05). The DASH diet altered 10-12 absolute serum metabolites vs control, with 8 metabolite-diet interactions significantly associated with blood pressure changes (P<0.05).
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