Box 2.

PICO inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion	Exclusion
Population: General population/primary prevention cohort (including hypertension) of any age, if adults are included	Population: Secondary prevention cohort (participants had existing CVD)
Intervention: Dietary non-drug interventions (energy deficit, Mediterranean diet, sodium reduction [salt reduction or substitution], DASH diet, alcohol reduction, and fish/fish oil consumption)	Intervention: Other diet intervention not pre-specified by expert advisors
Comparator: Any other intervention or control	Comparator: None
Outcome: CVD event or all-cause mortality	Outcome: Direct nor indirect cardiovascular outcomes reported

CVD = cardiovascular disease. DASH = Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. PICO = population, intervention, comparator, outcome.