It's no secret that eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise are the best combination for maintaining overall health. However, by following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet you can gain the added benefit of promoting heart health and maybe even boost your brain function.

These are the findings of a new study from Duke University that was recently published online in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. The DASH diet was created for the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension trial, conducted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. This was a randomized trial in which researchers analyzed the effects of diet and exercise on neurocognition among adults at risk for neurocognitive decline due to high blood pressure. Neurocognition encompasses memory, attention, and ability to learn new material. The study successfully linked exercise and diet to better cognitive function.

The purpose of the new study was to determine the impact of diet and exercise on blood pressure, while also examining the effects on cognitive function. James Blumenthal, Ph.D., lead author of the study and professor of psychology and neuroscience in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Duke University Medical Centre in Durham, North Carolina said, "This study has significant implications for slowing down or even reversing age-related cognitive deficits, which may even have greater impact among people vulnerable to develop dementia or Alzheimer's disease." For their study, the researchers followed a group of 124 men and women who had mild to moderate high blood pressure but were not taking medication for the condition. On average, participants were a minimum of 15 pounds overweight, and had an average age of 52 years.

The subjects were divided into three groups. One group followed the DASH diet alone, which emphasizes eating low-fat dairy products, fruits and vegetables, and foods low in cholesterol and high in carbohydrates. Another group followed the DASH diet in combination with a behavioural weight management program that included aerobic exercise and calorie restriction. The weight-management program consisted of two approaches. The first focused on reduction of portion size and habit changes, such as the reduction or elimination of snacking. The second approach was appetite awareness training that includes guidelines on how much to eat instead of just what to eat. The Aerobic exercise included a 30-minute supervised workout three times weekly. The third study group followed no particular diet or exercise program.