Hypolipidemic Dietary Components

Abstract

Several prospective epidemiological studies over the past 20 years concluded that ingestion of certain food or dietary components improves serum lipid profile and are effective in management of hyperlipidemia. The objective of this paper is to identify and quantify selective lipid lowering dietary components. This review focuses on identifying, quantifying and understanding the possible mechanism of action of soy, flaxseeds, oats and psyllium in improving lipid profile and reducing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk factor. A systematic search of database was performed to retrieve studies of published human studies and trials from 1995-2012, concentrating on recent systematic reviews, meta-analysis and intervention trials done to further elucidate the role of selective food (soy, oats, flaxseeds and psyllium) and their bioactive components (soy protein, soy isoflavones, flaxseed lignan, flaxseed omega 3 fatty acid, b-glucan, insoluble fiber) involved in improving lipid profile and reducing the cardiovascular disease risks. The findings quantify the amounts showing beneficial effects on serum lipid profile. Overall, the review of these clinical evidences suggested that inclusion of these food items can moderately but significantly reduce the risk of dyslipidemia, when consumed regularly as a part of a healthy diet and thus may help reduce any untoward cardiovascular event