A. S. LUIS
amples of modern approaches such as the Dietary Approaches
to Stop Hypertension (DASH) that promote the consumption of
diverse but specific range of foods that implicate a protection
against cardiovascular conditions. On the contrary, in the ab-
sence of modern science and research settings, rural traditional
communities have been recently found to utilize the extraction
phytochemical compounds from plants indigenous to that re-
gion to proliferate cardiovascular health.
The DASH diet has been able to lower the risk of hyperten-
sion in individuals who have adhered to its recommendations.
The DASH diet is starting to become more recognized by heal-
thcare officials as an adequate option in the dietary manage-
ment of hypertension. But research efforts have delved further
into the factors lending to its accomplishments beyond a simple
modification of diet by exploring the effects of the food that is
recommended in the DASH diet (Most, 2004). The composition
of the DASH diet promotes the consumption of fruits, vegeta-
bles, and low-fat dairy foods in order to reduce blood pressure
and is also known to protect against lipid peroxidation. Essen-
tially, the DASH diet is one such intervention that aims to ef-
fectively combat hypertension through sustained alterations of
an individual’s diet but not until recently, the phytochemical
content present in the DASH diet have been identified as key
factors in its ability to lower hypertension.
A recent study by the Department of Agriculture compiled a
database of the recommended foods in the DASH diet and its
phytochemical makeup to highlight their place as a key con-
tributor to preventing hypertension. The contents of phytoche-
mical compounds such as flavonoids, carotenoids, flavanones,
and phytoesterols were some of the focal points for their study
in comparison to a control diet. The results showed a drastic
disparity in the amounts of these phytochemical compounds
found in the DASH diet than in the control diet (Most, 2004,
1726). The results underscored that the DASH diet versus the
control diet had a higher concentration (mg/1000 kcal) of fla-
vonols (3.53 vs. 2.24), carotenoids (12.24 vs. 3.81), flavonones
(6.77 vs. .44), and phytoesterols (47.19 vs. 19.22) respectively
(Most, 2004).
On the other hand, without the use of modern scientific ap-
proaches characterized by modern interventions, more traditio-
nal communities have been just as rewarding with the utiliza-
tion of certain indigenous plants. In rural Uganda, the leaf of
the Moringa oleifera plant was initially touted by local Ugan-
dan media in the 1980’s as a purported cure to alleviate symp-
toms linked to HIV/AIDS. However, the Moringa oleifera plant
has found its uses expand into other areas of health, namely car-
diovascular health. In a trial studying its effects, have been able
to show that Moringa oleifera has a moderately high concentra-
tion of flavonols. Subsequently an impressive 90% of males in
these rural Ugandan communities have consistently consumed
its leaves to treat diabetes and hypertension without actually
knowing its effects that have been substantiated by research
efforts (Kasolo et al., 2010).
Both of these recent findings produce a unique perspective
with implications on the evolutionary history of humans. The
DASH diet mostly concentrated on the diversified consumption
of foods containing macronutrients and micronutrients. But the
findings produced in the rural Ugandan example illustrate that
dietary interventions may have been part of the natural course
of human innovation regardless of the advances made in mod-
ern western medicine. Yet, the underlying sentiment remains,
that if diets knowingly or in the case of rural the Ugandan
community unknowingly, emphasizing a biochemical focus
would stand to have more positive impacts on overall well-
being. The DASH diet in particular, with a focus on phytoche-
micals can broaden its scope of the DASH philosophy to in-
clude the plants like Moringa oleifera among many other plants
that have yet been identified or are under current investigation.
A focus on the biochemical reactions of phytochemicals would
give not just the DASH diet but other dietary interventions new
opportunities to produce a level of affirmation generated by
empirical results that is often the basis for acceptance in many
institutional settings.
Public Health Implications of Using Phytochemicals
to Address Hypertension and Other Cardiovascular
Conditions
The public health paradigm have been extremely concerned
with the nutritional status of entire populations, and in recent
decades have tried to implement nutritional interventions with
varying levels of success. In the case of cardiovascular health,
public health has struggled mightily to effectively produce a
“universal” cure in the face of rising rates of obesity and mal-
nutrition. However, many of these interventions can be costly
for those involved, and at times have not been able to produce a
positively uniformed impact. However, a “universal” cure is not
necessarily what is needed, but perhaps a universal effort fo-
cused on future sustainability. It appears that there are cost-
effective techniques to address the extant cases of malnutrition
stemming from the existence of poor quality food in impover-
ished populations in countries that have experienced rapidly
development where rates chronic and infectious disease rising.
One recommendation would require the use of a more nu-
anced approach with a level of cultural sensitivity by public
health officials to integrate an “organic” or “natural” facet into
the diet, aiming towards a more agriculturally sustainable focus
on certain phytochemicals, while at the same time, avoiding
synthetic means of production such as genetically modified
organisms (GMO’s), steroids, etc. A combination of a public
health perspective and an anthropological approach geared to-
wards biochemistry could be implemented to effectively narrow
the gap in dietary management of hypertension. Examples
taken from the DASH diet or the Ugandan use of Moringo olei-
fera can demonstrate that there are other ways to address mal-
nutrition beyond the reliance of commercial pharmaceutical
companies producing synthetic products. A biological anthro-
pological approach would comprehensively consider the cultu-
ral specificities and tailor diets based on a particular popula-
tion’s consumption of certain vegetables and fruits. This would
call for the cultivation of native plants with phytochemicals in-
digenous to a particular region. Essentially cultivating fruits and
vegetables rich in certain bioactive phytochemicals with high
concentrations of polyphenol compounds like phenolics, still-
benes, and flavonoids could promote cardiovascular health with
the goal of also providing a level of sustainability for communi-
ties with high rates cardiovascular disease.
Concluding Remarks
The trajectory of human evolution has entailed the cultiva-
tion of various relationships with a sundry of organisms. Yet,
the relationship with plants has been one with the longest his-
tory whose dyadic association is still producing new results
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