The Role of the Most Important Fruits in the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases in Persian Traditional Medicine

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of health problems worldwide. CVD are defined as conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels. Mortality due to cardiovascular diseases has increased in recent years. However, they can be easily controlled by reducing risk factors, including lipid profile, blood pressure, tobacco, alcohol, and low physical activity. Fruits have an important role in improving the risk factors of CVD. Ancient medical sources can play an important role in generating ideas for new research. In this study, the most common fruits that have been recommended by Persian traditional physicians in patients with CVD were reviewed. New documents supporting these effects were also extracted through a search on electronic databases. The findings showed that some fruits have a therapeutic role in CVD, according to Persian traditional medicine. Old Persian traditional physicians, such as Avicenna, advised fruits, including apples, lemon, pomegranate, pineapple, quince, cucumber, plums, and citron, for the treatment of CVDs. Several studies have been carried out on the effects of the above fruits, including apple (Malus pumila), pomegranate (Punica granatum), pineapple (Ananas comosus), Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.), fig (Ficus carica L.), and olive (Olea europaea). Modulation of signaling pathways and molecular properties that leads to reducing lipid metabolism disorders, correcting endothelial dysfunction, reducing blood pressure, reducing oxidative stress, and suppressing inflammation responses are the major mechanisms conducted by these fruits in preventing CVD. These pieces of evidence show that the opinion of Iranian medicine physicians regarding choosing fruits for treating CVD is worthy of consideration and an entry for deriving hypotheses for future studies.