Which Foods Actually Lower Your Cholesterol?
Can eating particular foods help you lower your bad cholesterol levels? Dr. David Jenkins of the University of Toronto thinks so, and believes he has the data to prove it.
According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, patients with high LDL (or bad cholesterol) levels who consumed a diet high in these foods actually lowered their levels, on average, by 14 percent doctors and dieticians already recommend a low-fat diet to those suffering from high LDL levels, patients studied by Dr. Jenkins’ team lowered their bad cholesterol up to three times as much as those following such prescribed diets.
So what did Jenkins’ patients eat? They eschewed butter and oils for margarines made from plant oils, as well as such fiber-rich foods as oats, barley and psyllium, nuts, and soy derivatives.
If this sounds familiar to you, you might have been paying attention to television commercials by the makers of Cheerios and Quaker Oats, both of which have spent millions in advertising dollars calling out the “heart healthy” benefits of their oat-based fare.
After just six months, intervention groups created by Jenkins’ team showed an average of 25 mg/dL drop in their LDL.
Jenkins admits that they recruited participants through advertising, and the bulk of those responding likely already cared about where their cholesterol levels stood, and may’ve been more motivated than others to shed bad cholesterol. But the three-times effectiveness over regular low-fat dieting, also performed by those who care, can’t be ignored.
“The implication from our point of view is that if we take the couch potato, and they were to bite the bullet and adopt these changes, they could do much better in terms of reducing their cholesterol,” said Jenkins.
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