NUTRITION INTERVENTIONS FOR IMPROVING CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RISK FACTORS
Open Access
- Author:
- Skulas-Ray, Ann Christine
- Graduate Program:
- Nutrition
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 22, 2011
- Committee Members:
- Sheila Grace West, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Sheila Grace West, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Penny Margaret Kris Etherton, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
David Theodore Mauger, Committee Member
John Patrick Vanden Heuvel, Committee Member
Kumble Sandeep Prabhu, Committee Member - Keywords:
- omega-3
spices
cardiovascular
triglycerides
fish
antioxidant - Abstract:
- This dissertation investigated the effects of high antioxidant spices and omega-3 fatty acids on cardiovascular risk factors. The unifying theme of these studies is adding beneficial nutrients back to a deficient diet in order to improve intermediate cardiovascular risk factors. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) reduce cardiovascular mortality at a dose of about 1 g/day, and there is some evidence for reduced cardiovascular risk factors at doses that exceed current dietary recommendations (> 2 g/d). Dose response studies are rare, and little is known about underlying hemodynamic mechanisms and other mechanistic effects of omega-3 fatty acids on humans in vivo. There is much interest in the potential of dietary antioxidants to attenuate in vivo oxidative stress, but very little characterization of the time course of plasma effects is available. Culinary spices have demonstrated potent in vitro antioxidant properties, the ability blunt inflammatory responses in vitro, but it is unknown whether this effect would exist in a human model of induced inflammation. Acute psychological stress has been shown to induce inflammation in vivo. The pharmacological dose of omega-3 fatty acids demonstrated significant reductions in fasting triglyceride concentrations, blood pressure, and red blood cell fatty acids, but did not improve other cardiovascular risk factors. Spices improved postprandial triglycerides and improved some markers of antioxidant status.