May food become medicine - does carp meat have a chance to become a functional food for people with cardiovascular disease?

Fish consumption is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality. The health benefits of fish consumption are attributed to high content of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid. Animal and human studies have demonstrated that n-3 PUFAs improve the function of the normal and damaged endothelium. It is recommended to eat two servings of fish per week.

The aim of the review was to find publications about the nutritional value of carp meat and its possible uses as functional food for patients with cardiovascular disease.

A search for open–access original full texts sin PubMed, Google Scholar, Medline Complete database was performed in June 2022. A total of 490 results were found. Eventually 22 articles were included for systematic review.

Carp consumption improves plasma lipid profile and therefore it could be considered a functional food. Carp meat is rich in essential amino acids too. The carp culture systems decide about PUFA and protein content in the meat. Carp can be cooked as traditional dishes or carp powder can be added to other dishes to enrich their nutritional value. The recommended method of carp meat preparation to preserve its’ nutritional value is oven baking. Carp meat or carp powder can be used as functional food for patients with cardiovascular diseases.