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Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic
Medical Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo College
of Health Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University,
Remo Campus, Ikenne, Nigeria. ooadebawo@yahoo.co.uk
Hyperlipidemia
is a major risk factor in etiology of cardiovascular
disease. Previous studies have shown association
between vegetarian diet and low total serum
cholesterol as well as LDL-cholesterol which
is a pointer to low risk of cardiovascular
disease. Dietary fiber, antioxidants and
other classes of nutrients have been reported
to ameliorate cardiovascular risk factors.
Fruits
and vegetables being rich sources of fiber
and antioxidants have been the focus in intervention
studies. The current work reports the effect
local fruits and vegetables on cardiovascular
risk factors in African hypertensive subjects
in an 8 week study.
Though there was no significant
difference in the Body Mass Index and HDL-cholesterol
at the end of the eighth week, there were
significant reductions (P < 0.05) in serum
triglycerides (125.87 +/- 6.0 to 108.27 +/-
5.49 mgdL-1); total serum cholesterol (226.60
+/- 6.15 to 179.20 +/- 5.78) and LDL-cholesterol
(135.69 +/- 5.56 to 93.07 +/- 7.18 mgdL-1). We
concluded that consumption of combination
of local fruits and vegetables may reduce
the incidence of cardiovascular risk factors
in Africans.
PMID: 16753064 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] |
