Débora Villaño

By Javier Marhuenda, Begoña Cerdá, Débora Villaño, Alejandro Galindo and Pilar Zafrilla

Citrus has been proposed as an interesting ingredient in the elaboration of food products as soft drinks due to its distinctive aroma and high nutritive value. It is a rich source of nutrients that contains higher amounts of vitamin C, citric acid, minerals, and flavonoids, especially flavanones and flavones (reaching values of 400–600 mg/L) and in lesser amounts flavonols and hydroxycinnamic acids. Citrus flavonoids decrease capillary permeability and are beneficial in the treatment of vascular diseases. Scientific studies suggest that the ingestion of food products based on citrus fruits improves the blood lipid profile, reduces oxidative stress, prevents atherogenic modifications of LDL and platelet aggregation, as well as contributes to the improvement of HDL levels. Other benefits attributed to citrus are antiaging, anticancer, neuroprotective, and antidiabetic. The present revision tries to empathize the most relevant studies regarding citrus and health.

Part of the book: Citrus

By Javier Marhuenda, Débora Villaño, Begoña Cerdá and María Pilar Zafrilla

Many studies have been published on the relationship between the risk of cardiovascular disease and various nutrients, foods, and eating patterns. Despite the well-accepted concept that diet has a significant influence on the development and prevention of cardiovascular disease, foods considered healthy or harmful have varied over the years. Cardiovascular diseases are one of the main causes of illness and death in Western countries, and cardiovascular drugs are the most commonly used medications. There are two types of factors involved in the development of cardiovascular disease. Some factor can be modified, like lifestyle, diet, environment, or smoking. Others such as genetic factors, gender, history, or age cannot be modified. In this chapter, some food, nutrients, and bioactive compounds that are susceptible to exert beneficial of harmful properties on cardiovascular disease are presented.

Part of the book: Nutrition in Health and Disease

By Begoña Cerdá, Javier Marhuenda, Raúl Arcusa, Débora Villaño, Purificación Ballester and Pilar Zafrilla

Ginger, Zingiber officinale, is a member of the Zingiberaceae family, used in traditional medicine for treatment of a variety of conditions. Many pharmacological activities have been reported for this plant (anti-inflammatory, anti-tumorigenic, anti-apoptotic, anti-hyperglycemic, cancer-chemopreventive, and anti-lipidemic). Cardiovascular disease, which includes coronary artery disease, acute myocardial infarction, peripheral arterial disease, and stroke, is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. In recent years, several studies have described that ginger can control or improve some cardiovascular risk factors such as cholesterol levels, hypertension, or atherosclerosis. The aim of the present review is to summarize the effects of ginger bioactive compounds on cardiovascular diseases.

Part of the book: Current Topics in Functional Food