[Nutrition in the prevention of ischemic heart disease]

The survey presents current knowledge on the role of nutrition in prevention of hypercholesterolemia and ischemic heart disease. From the standpoint of their role in atherogenesis, nutritional factors can be divided into protective and risk factors. The group of protective factors includes n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, oleic acid, plant sterols, plant lecithins, some fiber components (e.g. pectin), plant proteins (e.g. soybean), vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, potassium, calcium, chromium, and selenium. The group of risk factors comprises saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, sucrose, sodium, vitamin D, and ethanol. After World War II the development of food consumption in Czechoslovakia resulted in an imbalanced state persisting for some decades now which is characterized by a high involvement of risk factors (high consumption of meat, sausages, animal fats, eggs, common salt, and alcoholic beverages) and by a low involvement of protective factors (low consumption of vegetables, fruit, potatoes, legumes, fish, and roughly milled grain). The imbalance of risk and protective factors in nutrition is conceivably one of the main causes of the extremely high mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Czechoslovakia. The current unfavorable trend in the rate of ischemic heart disease and in life expectancy of the population in Czechoslovakia can not be reversed without substantial changes in the composition of nutrition.