OBJECTIVETo survey the intake of dietary lipids and analyze serum lipid levels in hypertensive patients, and to study the effects of changing dietary lipids intake on the serum lipid levels.

METHODSTo estimate the intake of dietary fat and to measure the level of serum lipids in hypertensive patients before and after intervention.

RESULTSThe baseline survey showed that the intake of dietary fat and cholesterol were high in those patients. Their fat intake is more than 30% of the total energy intake; serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels were higher than the normal level. Correlation analysis showed that body mass index (BMI) and saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake were positively correlated with serum TC, TG and LDL-C; serum HDL-C/TC ratio was positively correlated with monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) intake, and negatively correlated with BMI and SFA. The results implicated that MUFA is the protective factor against hypertension and hyperlipidemia. After one-year community-based nutrition intervention, the serum TC and LDL-C levels of the intervened subjects were reduced dramatically.

CONCLUSIONThe results indicate that reducing the intake of dietary fat and cholesterol and properly increasing dietary MUFA intake have significant effects on lowering serum lipids levels and controlling blood pressure in hypertensive patients.