Abstract
Epidemiological studies have shown that vegetable consumption is inversely related to the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, research has indicated that many vegetables like potatoes, soybeans, sesame, tomatoes, dioscorea, onions, celery, broccoli, lettuce and asparagus showed great potential in preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, and vitamins, essential elements, dietary fibers, botanic proteins and phytochemicals were bioactive components. The cardioprotective effects of vegetables might involve antioxidation; anti-inflammation; anti-platelet; regulating blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipid profile; attenuating myocardial damage; and modulating relevant enzyme activities, gene expression, and signaling pathways as well as some other biomarkers associated to cardiovascular diseases. In addition, several vegetables and their bioactive components have been proven to protect against cardiovascular diseases in clinical trials. In this review, we analyze and summarize the effects of vegetables on cardiovascular diseases based on epidemiological studies, experimental research, and clinical trials, which are significant to the application of vegetables in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Highlights
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have spread worldwide, and their prevalence is increasing dramatically [1,2]
In another study of 4774 Iranian subjects, significant correlations between potato intake and diabetes, high fasting blood sugar level as well as low serum HDL level were observed (odds ratio (OR): 1.38, 95% CI: 1.14–1.67, p < 0.001; OR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.17–1.68, p < 0.001; OR: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.01–1.20, p = 0.02; respectively) [26]. These results suggested a potential effect of potato consumption on CVDs, as high fasting blood glucose, low serum HDL, and diabetes are recognized as CVD risk factors
The results from many epidemiological studies support the hypothesis that vegetable consumption is inversely correlated to the risk of CVDs
Summary
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have spread worldwide, and their prevalence is increasing dramatically [1,2]. CVDs are a class of chronic non-infectious diseases related to substantial complicated risk factors such as high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, overweight and obesity, metabolic syndrome, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, imbalanced diet, and a lack of physical activity [6,8,9,10,11,12,13]. A healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet, reasonable physical activity, moderate alcohol consumption, and stopping smoking, is beneficial to persons at high risk of CVDs [13,20,21,22,23]. Among these methods, establishing and insisting on a Nutrients 2017, 9, 857; doi:10.3390/nu9080857 www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients. The present review summarizes the effects of vegetables on CVD prevention and treatment, with special attention paid to the mechanisms of action
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