Dietary Patterns for the Treatment of Arterial Hypertension in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) refers to the commonly occurring disorder comprising central obesity, systemic hypertension (HTN), insulin resistance, atherogenic dyslipidemia specifically hypertriglyceridemia, and reduced levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). The prevalence of MetS worldwide ranges from 20% to 25% in the adult population and 0% to 19.2% in children, but it can reach almost 80% in type 2 diabetes patients. Increased blood pressure (BP) is considered an important component of MetS. More than 85% of those with MetS, even in the absence of diabetes mellitus (DM), have elevated BP or HTN. Dietary patterns, such as Mediterranean-style, dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH), low-carbohydrate, and low-fat diets, can improve insulin resistance and MetS. Dietary patterns high in fruit and vegetable content were generally found to be associated with a lower prevalence of MetS. Evidence reinforces that DASH, Nordic diet, and Mediterranean diet (MD) significantly lowered systolic BP and diastolic BP by 4.26 and 2.38 mm Hg, respectively. Therefore, we aim to review the available evidence on the effect of dietary patterns on the treatment of HTN in patients with MetS.