Polyphenol-based nutraceuticals for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease: Review of human evidence.

BACKGROUND: In addition to prescription drugs, nutraceuticals/functional foods/medical foods are being increasingly added as adjunct treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD), even though most of them have been exclusively studied in vitro.

HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE: We review the available evidence (focusing on when the amount of polyphenols' intake was measured) coming from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of (poly)phenol-based supplements.

CONCLUSION: We conclude that (poly)phenol-based nutraceuticals and functional foods might be indeed used as adjunct therapy of CVD, but additional long-term RCTs with adequate numerosity and with clinically relevant end points are needed to provide unequivocal evidence of their clinical usefulness.