Nutritional Epidemiological Studies in Mountain People Taking 'Tibetan Tea' Habitually in Nepal

To Investigate the nutritional condition in Helambu people living in the mountain area in Nepal, we carried out the nutrition survey using the 24-hour recall method in 342 subjects(170 men and 172 women, aged from 20 to 84). Their usual daily diet mainly consisted of rice, sanba, Tarukali and Tibetan tea. The average daily consumption of the Tibetan tea was 1,220 ml in men and 1,370 ml in women, respectively, and the amount of the tea consumption was similar in each age-group. The Tibetan tea was found to be rich in both saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acid, especially in oleinic acid, and no poly-unsaturated fatty acid was detected. Nine % of total energy was taken from protein, 20-25% from fat and 66-72% from carbohydrate. Animal protein and animal fat ratios were 7% and 63%, respectively. The fat intake was significantly positively correlated with LDL-cholesterol and the saturated fatty acid with HDL-cholesterol, but no relation was observed between saturated fatty acid and LDL-cholesterol. These results suggest that the Tibetan tea may be one of the important nutritional foods for Helambu people.