Foods that can help do a number on bad cholesterol
by NANCI HELLMICH October 3, 2011 7:08PM
Oatmeal
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Updated: November 9, 2011 10:49AM
Nutrition experts have known for years that some foods, such as oatmeal, nuts and soy products, lower cholesterol.
Now, a new study shows that eating a diet with several of these foods can decrease LDL (bad) cholesterol significantly.
David Jenkins of St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto and colleagues recruited 345 Canadian men and women with high cholesterol. Their LDL (bad) cholesterol was an average of about 170 mg/dL at the beginning of the study.
All participants in the study were following heart-healthy diets low in saturated fat (butter, beef fat) and rich in fruits and vegetables, beans and whole grains, Jenkins says. Those in the control group continued to stick with their healthy diets.
Others in the intervention group were taught how to incorporate four cholesterol-lowering types of foods into their eating plan, including nuts; soy products; foods rich in viscous fiber (a type of soluble fiber), and plant sterol-enriched margarine.
Example of those on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet: An average of a handful of nuts a day. A couple of teaspoons of sterol-enriched margarine such as Take Control. Two servings a day of soy-protein products, such as a glass of soy milk and a soy burger. Two servings a day of viscous-fiber-rich foods such as oatmeal, psyllium-enriched cereals, barley and vegetables such as okra and eggplant.
“We fed people cholesterol-lowering foods, they worked, and you can buy them at the supermarket,” Jenkins says. “If you enrich a good diet with these foods, you get a very respectable reduction in cholesterol.”
Nutrition researcher Linda Van Horn, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, says the study shows that “eating more of these simple, inexpensive ingredients such as oatmeal, barley and beans, peas and lentils can have a significant impact on lowering blood cholesterol and risk for a heart attack — one forkful at a time.”
By consuming these types of foods, some people whose cholesterol is borderline high might be able to avoid medication .
Gannett News Service
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