Traditional Yoruba Diet Shows Cardioprotective Mechanisms in Comprehensive Review

A comprehensive review published in the journal Food, Nutrition and Health argues that the traditional diet of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria carries substantial cardioprotective potential, and that its progressive displacement by Westernised eating patterns may be contributing to a growing burden of cardiovascular disease in the region. The review, published on 14 October 2026 as an open access article, synthesises evidence on 24 edible plants central to Yoruba cuisine and the bioactive compounds they contain. The authors, led by Adedayo Hakeem Oyebanji, report that cardiovascular diseases already weigh more heavily on the Yoruba than on other Nigerian zones, with hypertension, stroke and ischaemic heart disease prevalent in both urban and rural settings.

The review team conducted a systematic literature search between January and November 2024 across PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and Google Scholar, using keyword clusters covering the Yoruba population, dietary exposure, cardiovascular outcomes and specific bioactive compounds. Boolean operators combined the terms, no publication date restriction was imposed although preference was given to studies from 2010 onwards, and reference lists of eligible papers were hand-searched. After screening against inclusion criteria that required original data on cardiovascular or cardiometabolic effects of foods commonly consumed in the traditional Yoruba diet, a final set of 183 studies was included. The authors note that formal quality assessment of individual studies was not performed given the narrative review design, and that publication bias favouring positive findings cannot be excluded.

According to the review, the classical Yoruba diet was built on locally grown, minimally processed staples: yams, cassava, maize, sorghum, millet, beans, pumpkin, garden eggs, mushrooms, wild green leafy vegetables, freshwater fish and bush meat. These were prepared by pounding, boiling, fermentation, roasting or smoking, and often packaged in natural materials such as banana leaves and calabashes, practices the authors suggest preserved nutrient quality and may have added antioxidant properties. Culinary spices included onions, locust bean, scent leaf and Piper guineense, ingredients the review associates with fibre, micronutrients, vitamins and antioxidants linked to healthy blood pressure and cholesterol regulation.

The core of the review is a plant-by-plant account of cardioprotective mechanisms. Jute mallow, known locally as ewedu and a daily staple in many Yoruba homes, lowered triglyceride and total cholesterol while raising high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in experimental models, and rodent studies linked its consumption to reduced malondialdehyde, a marker of lipid peroxidation, alongside enhanced activity of the antioxidant enzymes catalase and superoxide dismutase. Fluted pumpkin, or ugwu, reduced oxidative stress markers in animal models, an effect attributed to phenolics, flavonoids and the triterpenes alpha-amyrin and beta-amyrin. Waterleaf, or gbure, augmented SOD and catalase activity, improved lipid profiles and lowered blood pressure in hypertensive animal models, while wild lettuce, or yanrin, showed similar antioxidant, hypolipidaemic and antihypertensive effects in vivo.

Among allium vegetables, garlic emerges as one of the most thoroughly studied dietary plants. The review attributes its cardiovascular effects to sulphur-containing compounds, including allicin, S-allylcysteine, diallyl disulfide, diallyl trisulfide and ajoene, which are released when cloves are crushed or chopped. In experimental models these compounds contribute to antioxidant activity and modulate endothelial function by boosting nitric oxide production, promoting vasodilation and improving blood flow. Garlic polysulfides and sulphur-containing amino acids also generate hydrogen sulphide in vascular tissue, providing an additional vasodilatory stimulus that contributes to blood pressure reduction. Onion, a near-universal Yoruba ingredient, reduced lipid peroxidation markers while enhancing SOD and glutathione peroxidase in animal models, downregulated the inflammatory mediators COX-2 and VCAM-1, and improved lipid metabolism; onion peel extracts additionally showed antithrombotic activity, inhibiting platelet aggregation and reducing thromboxane production.

Fruits and flavourings in the traditional diet display comparable mechanisms, the review reports. Lemongrass extract reduced markers of cardiac necrosis in isoproterenol-induced cardiotoxicity models, and its principal bioactive citral, a mixture of geranial and neral comprising 65 to 85 percent of the essential oil, promotes endothelium-dependent vasodilation and blocks voltage-gated calcium channels, mechanisms tied to reduced vascular resistance and lower blood pressure. Grapefruit flavanones enhanced endothelial function and improved lipid profiles, and a nutrigenomic intervention study confirmed they can modulate the expression of genes governing vascular function. Cucumber juice lowered blood pressure in hypertensive individuals, an effect the review attributes largely to its high potassium content. Watermelon contributed lycopene and L-citrulline, the latter metabolised to L-arginine in vivo to drive nitric oxide synthesis, while avocado consumption significantly lowered LDL cholesterol in clinical evidence, and date palm fruit lowered LDL while raising HDL cholesterol and reduced C-reactive protein.

The review also highlights staple crops and condiments. Diosgenin from bitter yam, the most studied cardioprotective compound among Yoruba staples, enhanced SOD and glutathione peroxidase activity, lowered reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation, modulated lipid profiles, inhibited angiotensin-converting enzyme activity to produce a blood-pressure-lowering effect through the renin-angiotensin system, and downregulated the pro-inflammatory pathway nuclear factor kappa-B. Soybean isoflavones, principally genistein and daidzein, reduced LDL cholesterol and triglycerides without significantly affecting HDL, and epidemiological data linked regular soy consumption with a lower incidence of coronary heart disease. Red palm oil, rich in tocopherols, tocotrienols, carotenoids and phenolic compounds, lowered LDL and raised HDL in experimental studies, though the authors stress these findings apply when it is consumed in appropriate quantities without excessive heat processing.

Against this backdrop, the review documents a marked dietary transition, especially in urban centres. Refined rice, processed flour, fried snacks, sugary drinks and imported convenience foods have become increasingly common while consumption of green leafy vegetables has declined. Simple carbohydrates, saturated fats, monosodium glutamate and excess salt are now consumed in greater quantities, and traditional hydration practices, once centred on water, fresh palm wine and fresh fruit juices, have been displaced by carbonated drinks, commercial spirits and energy drinks, all associated in the cited literature with increased risk of hypertension, dyslipidaemia and obesity. The authors also emphasise an underexplored dimension: the shift from traditional leaf-based packaging and fermentation methods toward plastic packaging, which they suggest may reduce the bioavailability of cardioprotective phytochemicals.

The authors are careful to state the limits of the evidence. No randomised controlled trials have examined the cardiometabolic effects of traditional Yoruba dietary patterns in Yoruba populations, limiting causal inference, and most mechanistic data derive from in vitro and animal studies; human pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies are needed to confirm bioavailability and efficacy of the identified compounds. The traditional diet itself varies across communities and seasons, a complexity the review does not fully capture. They propose four research directives, including randomised crossover trials comparing cardiometabolic outcomes after eight to twelve weeks of traditional versus Westernised diets in hypertensive or dyslipidaemic Yoruba adults, bioavailability studies of key phytochemicals, longitudinal cohorts tracking dietary patterns and incident cardiovascular events over five to ten years, and comparative studies across communities stratified by degree of traditional diet adherence. On the public health side, they recommend culturally adapted dietary guidelines developed with community leaders, school-based nutrition programmes featuring traditional foods, promotion of biodegradable leaf packaging, and training for community health workers to deliver medical nutrition therapy incorporating traditional Yoruba foods for patients with hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia.

The review concludes that the traditional Yoruba diet represents a largely underappreciated resource for cardiovascular disease prevention, with its diverse indigenous vegetables, fruits, legumes and minimally processed staples acting through complementary mechanisms against oxidative stress, vascular inflammation, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and thrombosis. The authors argue that these mechanisms mirror those documented for traditional Mediterranean, Asian and Latin American dietary patterns, while the Yoruba food constellation, including ewedu, ugwu and iru, remains under-represented in global nutritional literature. They suggest that additive or synergistic effects when these foods are consumed together, as in traditional Yoruba meals, may explain lower cardiovascular risk in populations adhering to traditional patterns despite the absence of individual so-called superfoods. Reversing the current dietary transition, they argue, will require deliberate, culturally grounded interventions that make the health-promoting properties of indigenous foods accessible and actionable for contemporary Yoruba populations, with future clinical and epidemiological research essential to translate this dietary heritage into sustained cardiovascular health benefits.

Subject of Research: Cardioprotective mechanisms of the traditional Yoruba diet and the health impacts of its dietary transition

Article Title: Indigenous diet of the Yoruba ethnic majority in Southwestern Nigeria and its cardiometabolic impacts: a comprehensive review

Article References: Oyebanji, A. H., Akano, O. P., Adeoye, B. O., Akindele, Z. O., Omobude-Aisagbonhi, E., Olapoju, F. M., Ukangwa, N. A., Adetayo, M. O., Adewole, O. A., Ajaere, S. O., & Olosunde, O. A. (2026). Indigenous diet of the Yoruba ethnic majority in Southwestern Nigeria and its cardiometabolic impacts: a comprehensive review. Food, Nutrition and Health, 3(1), Article 40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44403-026-00085-w

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s44403-026-00085-w

Keywords: Yoruba diet, cardiovascular disease, Nigeria, phytochemicals, hypertension, dietary transition, antioxidants, flavonoids, garlic, lipid metabolism, indigenous foods, public health