ABSTRACT

This chapter is aimed at providing an up-to-date overview of the most relevant activities of dietary polyphenols towards mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology and progression of arterial stiffness (AS) and its consequences. A brief introduction covers the physiology and underlying mechanisms of arterial stiffness, whereafter possible beneficial effects of polyphenols will be discussed. It is beyond the scope of this chapter to exhaustively list all recent publications regarding polyphenols in food and vascular stiffening; instead we will mainly focus on the identification of contributing mechanisms and the possible interactions of those polyphenols herein.