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Coronary heart disease prevention: nutrients, foods, and dietary patterns

Bhupathiraju SN, Tucker KL

Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry, 2011

133 citations

Abstract

Diet is a key modifiable risk factor in the prevention and risk reduction of coronary heart disease (CHD). Results from the Seven Countries Study in the early 1970s spurred an interest in the role of single nutrients such as total fat in CHD risk. With accumulating evidence, we have moved away from a focus on total fat to the importance of considering the quality of fat. Recent meta-analyses of intervention studies confirm the beneficial effects of replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fatty acids on CHD risk. Scientific evidence for a detrimental role of trans fat intake from industrial sources on CHD risk has led to important policy changes including listing trans fatty acid content on the "Nutrition Facts" panel and banning the use of trans fatty acids in food service establishments in some cities. The effects of such policy changes on changes in CHD incidence are yet to be evaluated. There has been a surging interest in the protective effects of vitamin D in primary prevention. Yet, its associations with secondary events have been mixed and intervention studies are needed to clarify its role in CHD prevention. Epidemiological and clinical trial evidence surrounding the benefit of B vitamins and antioxidants such as carotenoids, vitamin E, and vitamin C, have been contradictory. While pharmacological supplementation of these vitamins in populations with existing CHD has been ineffective and, in some cases, even detrimental, data repeatedly show that consumption of…

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