Middle eastern diet and disease
Most of the present confusion probably comes from the consistent underestimation by physicians and scientists of the role of nutrition in CHD. Scientists and physicians have long been debating the Mediterranean-style diet and the French paradox for coronary heart disease (CHD). This article is not aimed at giving a comprehensive review of these two complex notions, which have to be analyzed in a broad geographic, climatic, agricultural, historical and socioeconomic context. This review discusses the role of nutritional genomics, or the dietary signature, in these dietary and disease changes in the MENA. Finally, we will try to introduce the two concepts as a fundamental premise of a new scientific theory on the role of nutrition in CHD, a theory that remains to be fully formulated. Selected disease categories in the MENA are discussed starting with a review of their epidemiology in the different MENA countries, followed by an examination of the known genetic factors that have been reported in the disease discussed, whether inside or outside the MENA. Introduction Over the past few decades, the MENA has been witnessing significant changes in food habits paralleled by an important preponderance of metabolite-related diseases. Keywords Coronary disease Epidemiology Time for primary review 26 days. With that wider definition, the expected benefits for the prevention of CHD go far beyond an antioxidant effect and include lipid and blood pressure lowering effects, anti-inflammatory effects, the prevention of arterial plaque rupture and thrombosis, as well as protection against malignant ventricular arrhythmia and heart failure. Still, the numbers show alarming trends for cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders, namely, insulin resistance, adiposity, dyslipidemias, and atherosclerosis. Mediterranean diet and the French paradox Two distinct biogeographic concepts for one consolidated scientific theory on the role of nutrition in coronary heart disease. Figure 1: Map of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region suffers a drastic change from a traditional diet to an industrialized diet. The definition of the Mediterranean-style diet varies according to the particular Mediterranean area that is considered. A big part of this change is attributed to the lifestyle changes and globalization with the invasion of western fast food to the MENA countries. Sipido Deputy Editors Stefan Janssens Aernout Luttun Paul Holvoet Maurilio Sampaolesi Dirk Duncker. Several diet-genetics-disease relationships in the MENA may be contributing to the increased prevalence of civilization disorders of metabolism and micronutrient deficiencies. Likewise, micronutrient deficiencies (MNDs) have been heavily studied recently due to their crucial contribution to the global burden of many chronic diseases. 1. This has led to an unparalleled increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases. We will only provide a superficial overview, in relation to the epidemiology of CHD. However, folksy they sound, these two biogeographic concepts can still be very useful to explain unexpected or controversial medical and scientific data, such as the low mortality rate from CHD in Mediterranean Southern Europe and in France as compared with other European countries. Understanding these concepts may help improve our ability to treat and prevent CHD. Future research in the field of nutritional genomics in the MENA is needed to better define these relationships.
