Does diet and nutrition play a role in cardiovascular (CVD)?
There is evidence that plant foods play a role in preventing atherosclerotic heart disease. Plant foods provide dietary fiber that help lower blood cholesterol and antioxidants that help in lipoprotein oxidation. On the other hand, the consumption of saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, and red meat have all been shown to increase the incidence of heart disease. Early work concentrated on how these substances played a role in the level of total and LDL cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins -the bad cholesterol) in the blood. Lowering dietary lipid patterns to decrease saturated fatty acids and cholesterol and increasing polyunsaturated fatty acids will result in decreases in total and LDL cholesterol levels. More recent research indicates that monounsaturated fatty acids also increase HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins -the good cholesterol). A well-maintained diet, will help people with low levels of blood cholesterol minimize the tendency of cholesterol levels to rise with age
