Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9600
ISSN: 2155-9600
Arpita Basu
Oklahoma State University, USA
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nutr Food Sci
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the global population and much of its etiology has been associated with nutritional factors. Dietary sources of polyphenols especially berries, cocoa and tea have been shown to reduce CVD risk factors in clinical studies and have been associated with reduced risks of diabetes, hypertension and CVD events in large observational cohorts. Our research has demonstrated the effects of green tea, berries and cocoa in improving CVD risk factors especially those related to the metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes in randomized clinical studies. We reported the role of green tea beverage and supplements in lowering body weight in obese adults with the metabolic syndrome. We also observed significant effects of dietary blueberries and strawberries in lowering blood pressure and blood cholesterol, respectively in obese adults with the metabolic syndrome and elevated serum lipids. These effects were observed in studies ranging from eight to 12 weeks in duration. We also reported acute postprandial effects of cocoa beverage in increasing HDL-cholesterol following a fast food style meal challenge in obese adults with type-2 diabetes. In addition to improving conventional CVD risk factors such as obesity, hypertension and elevated blood cholesterol, berries and green tea were also shown to lower oxidative markers of atherosclerosis such as lipid peroxidation in these at risk individuals in our studies. Our research findings further the understanding of polyphenol-rich foods and beverages in the management of CVD risk factors using dietary achievable doses of berry fruits, cocoa and green tea.
Arpita Basu has completed her PhD in Nutrition from Texas Woman’s University followed by Postdoctoral studies in Clinical Nutrition from the University of California Davis Medical Center. She is an Associate Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Oklahoma State University. She has published more than 40 peer-reviewed reputable journal papers and invited book chapters. Her work in the area of functional foods and dietary bioactive compounds has been widely cited and she serves as an Editorial Board Member of the prestigious Journal of Nutrition.
Email: arpita.basu@okstate.edu