Popular functional foods and nutraceuticals with lipid lowering activity and in relation to cardiovascular disease, dyslipidemia, and related complications: an overview

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most common non-communicable ailment which claims one-third of total global death. This contribution provides an overview of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipidemia (dyslipidemia) and their related complications as well as the current treatment options with special attention to popular functional foods and nutraceuticals. Currently, many synthetic lipid-lowering drugs are available in the market. However, they trigger several adverse effects. Thus, to overcome this problem nutraceuticals and functional foods which are considered safe, and with multifaceted lipid-lowering activity are highly recommended (adjuvant therapy) for treating dyslipidemia. This review intends to shed light on how to choose the appropriate or better nutraceutical/functional food ingredients to alleviate the risk of CVD, based on recent literature survey with the inclusion of clinical trials and meta-analysis to ensure the efficacy of nutraceuticals/ functional foods on lipid profile.