Dietary Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Diseases

Although successful efforts have been greatly exerted to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), it currently causes the most number of global deaths among all kinds of diseases. This book has comprehensively reviewed dietary risk factors for CVDs. There are several approved dietary risk factors for CVDs in our daily diets and foods. The dietary risk factors include toxicities caused by an over-consumption of cholesterol, energy, saturated fatty acids, saccharides (especially fructose), iron, sodium, alcohol, niacin, homocysteine, alkaloids (such as synephrines, caffeine, tyramine, dopamine, histamine, and cyanide), nucleic acids and trans-fatty acids. Other extensive factors include the metabolites of choline-containing compounds or L-carnitine, and environmental contaminants such as mercury and cadmium; the deficiencies of folate and vitamins D, B6, or B12; the toxicity or deficiency of magnesium; and the consumption of sweetened soft drinks. Underweight, or even normal weight individuals might not decrease the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases because the deficiency of some nutrients, and alkaloids in the above mentioned chapters that are able to control weight could also damage the cardiovascular system. It seems that the association of all these risk factors in blood with CVDs has been well established, though some controversial opinions on some risk factors exist. Therefore, it should be worth carrying out further studies on the correlation of these risk factors in foods with the occurrence of CVDs.