Natural preparations supporting the treatment of coronary heart disease: a narrative review

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is currently the most common cause of death in the world. Diet plays a significant role in the treatment of CHD. The purpose of this review is to present the current knowledge onnatural products, including soybeans, garlic, black coffee, tea, and monounsaturated fatty acids, as well ascomponents of the Mediterranean diet and Portfolio diet in supporting the treatment of CHD. A literaturesearch was carried out in a scientific search engine database. Combinations of the following terms were used:“coronary heart disease”, “ischemic heart disease”, and “natural preparation of CHD”. Scientific publicationswere systematically examined to identify both direct and indirect evidence that met the aims of this review.Only articles that considered human subjects were included. After the selection process, a total of 28 articles were included in the review. The main findings were as follows: Garlic ameliorates the function of theendothelium, blood pressure parameters, and lipid profiles. Coffee improves glucose metabolism and showsantioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Tea ameliorates the lipid profile. Monounsaturated fatty acidsshow antioxidant properties. The Mediterranean diet has antihypertensive and antioxidant properties andreduces inflammation. The Portfolio diet shows lipid-lowering and antioxidant properties. Diet in CHD is anextremely important factor supporting treatment and can significantly modify the parameters of cardiovascular risk. However, there is still a need for more research on the properties of natural products and theirhealth effects.