Mariane Lutz gives lecture on diet and coronary heart disease

3/08/2020

An online conference on the impact of an adequate diet on the prevention of coronary heart disease was given by CIESAL researcher Mariane Lutz. The presentation, entitled “Can food prevent platelet aggregation?” was organised by the Thrombosis Research Centre of the Universidad de Talca and given on 30 July 2020”.

 

To answer this question, the CIESAL researcher explained that platelet activation and aggregation contribute to the formation of thrombi, a risk factor for coronary heart disease. For this reason, healthy eating patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet, ensure the body a supply of food with nutrients and bioactive components that help reduce cardiovascular risk. Fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, extra virgin olive oil, fish and shellfish and low-fat dairy stand out among the foods that are closely related to the antiplatelet effect.

Mariane Lutz also explained that vegetables provide a variety of phenolic compounds, carotenoids, fibre, and sea products contain EPA and DHA omega 3 fatty acids. All of these components –which act better in conjunction rather than in isolation- generate an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antithrombotic condition through different mechanisms, including gene expression. The researcher specified that “although there is much evidence of antithrombotic effects from preclinical in vitro testing and animal trials, there is still a lack of randomised human clinical trials to demonstrate which molecules are responsible for the antithrombotic effect and in what quantities should they be ingested”. These clinical trials could be used to complete the validation cycle of the antiplatelet effect of certain foods through evidence-based nutrition.