Hypolipidaemic foods in China.

With the changes in dietary pattern in China, in recent years, hyperlipidaemia has become an important problem in the pathogenesis of chronic degenerative diseases, especially the cardio-cerebro-vascular diseases. From studies on laboratory animals and people with hyperlipidaemia, a number of hypolipidaemic foods and beverages have been identified, of relevance to traditional Chinese food culture. Their absence from the diet may, in part account for the increasing prevalence of hyperlipidaemia in China. The several groups of foods used in China with hypolipidaemic effects include: •Cereals: oats, naked oats (Avena stiva L. var. nuda Mordv.), millet, buckwheat, wheat germ, maize germ. •Beans: soybean, kidney bean, hyacinth bean, red bean, mung bean, broad bean, pea, Phaseolus L., soy dregs. •Aquatic: prawn, Greater croaker, Crucian carp, squid, mussel, scallop, Silvery pomfret. •Fungi and algae: mushroom, algin, kelp, laver (Porphyra yezoensis Veda), (Enteromorpha prolifera), (Auricularia polytricha). •Vegetables: garlic, celery, onion, spring onion, chives, pepper. •Nuts and fruits: peanut seed, walnut seed. Splinar pear (Rosa voxburghi Tratt), kiwifruit (Achinida chinensis planch). •Oil: soybean oil, rice bran oil, tea seed oil, rubber seed oil, grape seed oil. fish oil, soybean phospholipid. •Others: tea, brown sugar, Cr-enriched yeast, iodine-enriched eggs. The present enquiry into a range of factors in food which may influence lipoprotein metabolism encouraging new ways of thinking about the pathogenesis, prevention and management of lipid disorders and their sequelae.