Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals in the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases

Table 2

Potential cardiovascular protective effects of functional foods.

Functional foods	Bioactive compounds	Potential mechanism	References
- Nuts	- Tocopherols, omega-3 fatty acids	Lowering blood cholesterol	Sabate and Ang [60]; Albert et al. [62]
- Legumes	- Fiber and polyphenols		Erkkilä and Lichtenstein [55]
- Fruits and vegetables	- Fiber (pectin)		Liu et al. [56]
- Margarine	- Phytosterols		Darmadi-Blackberry et al. [63]
- Fish oil	- Omega-3 fatty acids		Hicks and Moreau [110]
- Whole grains	- Fiber and phytochemicals		Dyerberg et al. [37]
- Soy proteins	- Genistein and daidzein		Lutsey et al. [73]
- Dark chocolate	- Flavonoid		Anderson et al. [78]; Harland and Haffner [79]; Grassi et al. [89]; Baba et al. [90]
- Fish	- Omega-3 fatty acids	Inhibition of LDL-C oxidation	Lee and Wander [39]
- Green leafy vegetables, fruits	- Carotenoids		Chopra et al. [52]
- Citrus fruits and vegetables	- Vitamin C		Sesso et al. [119]
- Tomato	- Lycopene		Aguirre and May [115]
- Extravirgin olive oil	- Polyphenolics and oleic acid		Engelhard et al. [123]
- Green tea	- Tea polyphenolics		Psaltopoulou et al. [145]
- Soy proteins	- Genistein, daidzein, and glycitein		Wiseman et al. [81]
- Dark chocolate	- Flavonoid		Grassi et al. [89]
- Pomegranate	- Polyphenols		Davidson et al. [99]
- Fish	- Omega-3 fatty acids	Lowering blood triglycerides	Durrington et al. [36]; Dyerberg et al. [37]; Harris et al. [40]
- Fish	- Omega-3 fatty acids		Mozaffarian [35]
- Legumes	- Fiber		He et al. [53]
- Whole grains	- Fiber and phytochemicals		Savica et al. [54]; Lee et al. [65]
- Citrus fruits	- Ascorbic acid		Flint et al. [72]
		Decreasing blood pressure
- Ginseng	- Ginsenosides		Hooper et al. [108]
- Onion and garlic	- Quercetin
- Green and black teas	- Tea polyphenols
- Grapes and red wines	- Grape polyphenols		Perez-Jimenez and Saura-Calixto [160]
- Dark chocolate	- Flavonoid		Grassi et al. [89]
- Fruits and vegetables	- Folate; - Phytochemicals	Lowering blood homocysteine	Samman et al. [144]; Appel et al. [152]
- Whole grains	- Fiber and phytochemicals		Jenkins et al. [154]
- Citrus fruits and vegetables	- Vitamin C		Broekmans et al. [27]
- Nuts, seeds, and oils	- Vitamin E
- Tomatoes	- Lycopene	Antioxidant action	Engelhard et al. [123]; Krinsky and Johnson [121]; Sesso et al. [119]; Aguirre and May [115]
- Green leafy vegetables, fruits	- Carotenoids
- Vegetable oils	- Tocopherol, tocotrienols
- Citrus fruits and vegetables	- Vitamin C		Mink et al. [105]; Perez-Jimenez and Saura-Calixto [160]
- Soy proteins	- Genistein and daidzein
- Green and black teas	- Tea polyphenols
- Grapes and red wines	- Anthocyanins, catechins, cyanidins, and flavonols, myricetin and quercetin
- Nuts, seeds, and oils	- Vitamin E	Anti-inflammatory action	Singh et al. [128]; Kushi et al. [130]
- Fish	- Omega-3 fatty acids		Ueeda et al. [38]
- Legumes	- Polyphenols		Lutsey et al. [73]
- Grapes and red wines	- Anthocyanins, catechins, cyanidins, and flavonols, myricetin, and quercetin		Perez-Jimenez and Saura-Calixto [160]
- Fish	- Omega-3 fatty acids	Endothelial function	Ueeda et al. [38]
- Nuts	- Polyphenols		Ros et al. [61]
- Citrus fruits and vegetables	- Vitamin C		Aguirre and May [115]
- Grapes and red wines	- Anthocyanins, catechins, cyanidins, and flavonols, myricetin, and quercetin		Perez-Jimenez and Saura-Calixto [160]
- Dark chocolate	- Flavonoid		Grassi et al. [88]
- Grapes and red wines	- Anthocyanins, catechins, cyanidins, and flavonols, myricetin and quercetin	Platelets aggregation	Perez-Jimenez and Saura-Calixto [160]; Mink et al. [105]