ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of death, accounting for more than one-third of all deaths in the United States and Canada (AHA 2009, HSFC 2005). CVD encompasses a wide range of conditions that affect either the functioning of the heart or blood —ow to critical organs of the body, and includes those that originate due to genetic abnormalities and infectious diseases. The more prevalent diseases such as coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, and peripheral arterial disease that occur due to environment (i.e., diet, lifestyle, tobacco use) are typically recognized as CVD (AHA 2009). This chapter will illustrate the role of ber intake in the prevention of CVD according to the epidemiological, clinical, and experimental data, and provide evidence that the increased incidence of CVD is in part due to the fact that most people do not meet the adequate intake (AI) for total ber intake.
