ABSTRACT
Introduction For the past couple of decades nutritionists have concentrated on developing guidelines to reduce or prevent the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD), such as low-fat, low-salt, and high-fibre diets in addition to ways to reduce excess body weight. More recently, functional foods have gained popularity as a means of retarding the onset and progression of cardiovascular disease. The emphasis has ceased to be solely on measures to reduce plasma lipids-today’s research also investigates ways in which diet may affect risk factors such as lipoprotein oxidation, platelet aggregation, thrombotic mechanisms, plaque formation and cardiac arrhythmias. Other areas of enquiry have included epidemiological studies of various diets from around the world, such as the Mediterranean diet, as well as of specific vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids.
