Dietary Macronutrients and Cardiovascular Risk

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States accounting for more deaths than all other causes combined. Numerous risk factors for CVD are identified, many of which are modifiable by diet and lifestyle practices. Major modifiable risk factors include cigarette smoking, elevated total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, overweight and obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and a sedentary lifestyle. Other important risk factors that are modifiable by diet are a low level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, elevated levels of triglycerides, lipoprotein, insulin, hypertension, altered hemostatic factors, and small, dense LDL particles. This chapter reviews the understanding of how changes in the macronutrient profile of the diet affect CVD risk status. It describes various low saturated fatty acids (SFA) and cholesterol diets that differ in macronutrient content and present the plasma lipid and lipoprotein responses that are reported for these diets. This, chapter highlights the effect of various low SFA , low-cholesterol diet options with differentmacronutrient profiles on newly defined CVD risk factors.