Dietary (poly)phenols and Vascular Health
Résumé
A primary goal of nutrition research is to provide science‐based knowledge to optimize health, prevent diseases and, importantly nowadays, slow down dysfunction associated with ageing to ensure well‐being throughout life. Alterations in vascular function and integrity are closely associated with the onset of cardiovascular disease development and are also responsible for a large range of health problems. In this respect, it is important to identify scientific dietary strategies to prevent early vascular dysfunction. In recent decades, changes in lifestyles and diets have made unhealthy dietary patterns one of the major risk factors for chronic diseases. Population studies have shown that these diseases could be highly preventable by a high consumption of plant foods. Growing evidence also suggests that the health benefits associated with plant food consumption are related to their phytochemical content. (Poly)phenols constitute the most abundant phytochemicals in our diet and their biological properties may help to promote the beneficial effects of plant foods. This chapter highlights the relationship between vascular function and health and presents the current state of the art on the role of dietary (poly)phenols in the vascular protective effects of plant foods and related mechanisms, including findings from our lab related to citrus flavanones and vascular protection.