Accessibility navigation


Dietary patterns and cardiovascular disease

Williams, C. M., Lovegrove, J. A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7633-9455 and Griffin, B. A. (2013) Dietary patterns and cardiovascular disease. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 72 (4). pp. 407-411. ISSN 0029-6651

Full text not archived in this repository.

It is advisable to refer to the publisher's version if you intend to cite from this work. See Guidance on citing.

To link to this item DOI: 10.1017/S0029665113002048

Abstract/Summary

Despite strong prospective epidemiology and mechanistic evidence for the benefits of certain micronutrients in preventing CVD, neutral and negative outcomes from secondary intervention trials have undermined the efficacy of supplemental nutrition in preventing CVD. In contrast, evidence for the positive impact of specific diets in CVD prevention, such as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, has focused attention on the potential benefits of whole diets and specific dietary patterns. These patterns have been scored on the basis of current guidelines for the prevention of CVD, to provide a quantitative evaluation of the relationship between diet and disease. Using this approach, large prospective studies have reported reductions in CVD risk ranging from 10 to 60% in groups whose diets can be variously classified as 'Healthy', 'Prudent', Mediterranean' or 'DASH compliant'. Evaluation of the relationship between dietary score and risk biomarkers has also been informative with respect to underlying mechanisms. However, although this analysis may appear to validate whole-diet approaches to disease prevention, it must be remembered that the classification of dietary scores is based on current understanding of diet-disease relationships, which may be incomplete or erroneous. Of particular concern is the limited number of high-quality intervention studies of whole diets, which include disease endpoints as the primary outcome. The aims of this review are to highlight the limitations of dietary guidelines based on nutrient-specific data, and the persuasive evidence for the benefits of whole dietary patterns on CVD risk. It also makes a plea for more randomised controlled trials, which are designed to support food and whole dietary-based approaches for preventing CVD.

Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Divisions:Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Institute for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Research (ICMR)
Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences > Human Nutrition Research Group
ID Code:33644
Publisher:Cambridge University Press

University Staff: Request a correction | Centaur Editors: Update this record

Page navigation