Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide, and hyperlipidemia is one of the most important risk factors for CVD.

Hyperlipidemia is defined as high plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC).

The level of blood lipids is closely related to dietary habits and the body’s metabolic capacity. Reducing the intake of saturated, trans fatty acids and dietary cholesterol, and increasing the intake of lipid-lowering health food products can help reduce blood lipids.

Research has found that there are many functional components of food with lipid-lowering effects.

Dietary Fiber

Dietary fiber is internationally recognized as the seventh nutrient. Studies have shown that soluble dietary fiber can prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases. Dietary fibers such as oatmeal, apple pectin, psyllium soluble fiber and hydroxyethyl methyl cellulose have hypolipidemic effects.

The main lipid-lowering mechanisms of dietary fiber include: lowering cholesterol in the liver by reducing hepatic cholesterol production and promoting the conversion of hepatic cholesterol into bile acids. It can also be achieved by regulating the activity of enzymes related to fatty acid oxidation, inducing fatty acid oxidation, and lowering hepatic TG levels.

Polysaccharides

Polysaccharides have been extensively studied as a new source of dietary supplements and functional food ingredients. It has been found that polysaccharides such as jujube polysaccharides, kelp polysaccharides, pumpkin polysaccharides, angelica polysaccharides, and striped purslane polysaccharides have hypolipidemic properties.

Active polysaccharides can lower blood lipids by inhibiting cholesterol synthesis, blocking the hepatic and intestinal circulation of cholesterol, and lowering plasma cholesterol levels. It can also be achieved by regulating adipocyte differentiation, inhibiting the activity of fatty acid catabolism-related enzymes, promoting fatty acid oxidation, and scavenging excess free radicals in the body to inhibit lipid peroxidation.

Polyphenols

Polyphenols, also known as “plant tannins”, including phenolic acid and flavonoids, are mainly found in the roots, skin, leaves and fruits of plants, and have strong biological activity. Research has found that pomegranate polyphenols, grape polyphenols, cocoa polyphenols, tea polyphenols and other polyphenols have the effect of lowering blood lipids.

Alkaloids

Alkaloids are a class of nitrogenous alkaline organic compounds found in nature. A large number of studies have found that alkaloids have hypolipidemic effects.

Wu Hao et al. fed 70.05 mg/kg of pharmacopoeia root alkaloids to rats for 4 weeks and found that they could significantly reduce the body weight of rats, and significantly reduce the levels of TC, TG, and LDL-C, and increase the levels of HDL-C. In addition, pharmacopoeia root alkaloids could significantly reduce the levels of bile acids in the blood, and increase the excretion of bile acids (TBA) in the feces.

Saponins

Saponins are widely found in plants and also in small quantities in marine organisms such as starfish and sea cucumbers, and are important in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and in lowering blood lipids.

African eggplant saponin, aralia saponin and other saponin components have significant hypolipidemic and anti-lipid peroxidation effects.

Saponins can inhibit hepatic cholesterol synthesis and increase plasma cholesterol efflux to lower plasma cholesterol levels, and can also regulate lipid metabolism-related enzymes and enhance the antioxidant capacity of lipids to play a lipid-lowering role.

Others

He Shan et al. found that a large number of minerals and trace elements in deep-sea water have the effect of lowering blood lipids, mainly through the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase to reduce the lipid content of hepatocytes, thus inhibiting the synthesis of cholesterol and fatty acids. In addition, mRNA expression of LDL receptor, SREBP-2 and CYP7A1 was up-regulated, resulting in lower LDL levels and increased cholesterol efflux.

Rashid et al. fed tocotrienols (TRF), obtained by enrichment from palm oil, as a dietary supplement to rats on a high-fat diet, which significantly reduced TC, TG, and LDL-C levels and lowered the level of oxidized LDL compared to the control group, thereby inhibiting the development of atherosclerosis.

Perilla oil is rich in α-linolenic acid, ZhangTao et al. found that rats fed perilla oil significantly reduced the levels of TC and TG, increased the mRNA expression of PPAR-α and CPT1A in the liver, and promoted the oxidation of hepatic fatty acids compared with the control group; they also up-regulated the mRNA expression of SREBP-1, FAS, and ACC in the blood serum, which significantly lowered serum lipids and inhibited hepatic fatty acid synthesis. Fatty acid synthesis was inhibited.