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] |