Diet, Epigenetics, and Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) poses a significant threat to human health, as it is the leading cause of death worldwide, resulting in over 18.6 million deaths each year. Unhealthy lifestyle choices contribute to the increased incidence of CVD, with unhealthy dietary habits being a major contributing factor. Recent research has shed light on the influence of different diets on epigenetic modifications associated with CVD, such as histone modification, DNA methylation, and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). A healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, promotes the expression of genes that support cardiovascular health by enhancing histone acetylation, thereby creating a more relaxed chromatin state. Unhealthy dietary patterns, such as the Western-style diet, have been shown to be associated with DNA methylation, a modification that can silence genes involved in lipid metabolism and elevate the risk of CVD. Thus, understanding the role of epigenetics in CVD caused by unhealthy diets will help to develop novel preventive and therapeutic strategies for CVD by diet modification. This chapter aims to explore the impact of diet on CVD from an epigenetic perspective, with a focus on the underlying mechanisms.