• 65 million Americans have hypertension (31%)
• 45 million have prehypertension
• At age 55, those who do not have high blood pressure have a 90% chance of developing high blood pressure at some point in their lifetime.
• 81% of Americans with high blood pressure are over 45 years old, even though they make up just 46% of the population
• Average blood pressure is on the rise in children

Risk factors for heart disease include:

Some additional risk factors include high C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a marker for inflammation, and elevated homocysteine.

The DASH diet has been proven in National Institutes of Health research to help lower your risk of heart disease by lowering blood pressure and lowering cholesterol. It is the diet recommended for reducing blood pressure. Our book, The DASH Diet Action Plan also provides guidance in additional lifestyle changes which will support improving HDL cholesterol, better management of type 2 diabetes, losing weight, stopping smoking, and becoming more physically active. The components of the DASH diet will also help to lower homocysteine, and may help reduce inflammation. The DASH diet can significantly reduce your risk for developing heart disease.