Implications from and for food cultures for cardiovascular disease: diet, nutrition and cardiovascular diseases in China.

The change of lifestyle of Chinese people, along with the development of the national economy, has caused significant changes of the disease pattern in China. This includes the shift from predominantly communicable diseases to non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. This paper summarises epidemiology research results on the relationship between diet, nutrition and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) available in China. Most data used in this paper are from correlation studies. While the information is very useful in generating hypotheses on dietary and nutritional risk factors for CVD, both prospective studies and population-based intervention trials are needed to further verify these hypotheses. The information in this review clearly shows that diet and nutrition play important roles in the occurrence of CVD and hypertension in the Chinese population. Therefore, dietary means should be an important part of the strategies for the control of CVD and hypertension in China.