Researchers Say Nuts to Low-Fat Diet Alone

-
Need to get your LDL cholesterol down (maybe way down) but your low-fat diet just isn't doing it? Try upping your intake of nuts, including soy nuts. Add a bowl of oatmeal (these are the best fast food choices) or barley soup, some soy milk, and a little cholesterol-fighting bread spread. Done.
In a new study, people who ate a diet rich in these foods lowered their LDL cholesterol by at least 13% in just 6 months. The shocker: A comparison group that ate a diet low in saturated fat got only a 3% LDL reduction. Talk about surprises. (Another surprise: Oatmeal and walnuts make you feel happy, too.)

A One-Two Punch
Lesson learned: Cutting back on saturated fat, while a healthy idea in general, isn't enough to get your LDL where you want it. It's stubborn stuff. To smack it down, you need drugs (here's a 101 on which) or foods rich in three specific ingredients: plant sterols (phytosterols), soy protein, and sticky (viscous) fiber.
These ingredients may not sound all that tasty, but the foods they're in are! (Who doesn't love cashews?) They're also easy to find, quick and simple to eat, and so filling that they'll likely help you lose weight while lowering your LDL cholesterol. How effective are their ingredients? Other studies have found that diets rich in them could cut your LDL cholesterol as much as a low-dose statin drug. Yowza.
To knock down your cholesterol, here's how much to eat of what:
  • Mixed nuts (walnuts, almonds, peanuts, the works): a small handful a day. Nuts are full of protein, heart-healthy fats, and -- critical here -- LDL-fighting phytosterols.
  • Soy protein: two to three servings a day of soy milk, soy nuts, and tofu (total: 25 grams of protein). This alone can drop your LDL by 10%.
  • Spreads high in plant sterols (think Benecol, Take Control): about two tablespoons a day. That's enough to reduce your LDL levels 5% to 17%.
  • Sticky fiber: about two servings a day of oatmeal, barley, beans, lentils, or a psyillium supplement (Metamucil). The sticky, viscous fiber in these foods can lower LDL by 5% to 10%.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Low-Cal Game Day Snacks

-
Combine 1 month of holiday feasting with 1 football season of noshing on high-calorie snacks, and what have you got? Double the size in belly, hips, and thighs. But cheer up! We've got diet snack solutions to help. That's right. Game day food makeovers that look and taste like the originals. Your guests won't even know they're low in fat (and you'll stay in your skinny jeans till baseball season). Lite Wings: Cut the saturated fat and sodium with these cornmeal-crusted boneless buffalo wings. Serve them with a light blue-cheese dip. Pizza-to-go: For maximum calorie control, make it yourself. If convenience is a priority, order a thin-crust veggie pizza from Domino's, Pizza Hut, or Papa John's. All three can deliver a pizza that weighs in at less than 250 calories a slice. Chips and dip: Serve baked chips with a Greek-yogurt-based fat-free dip. At about 15 calories a tablespoon, you can have more than a handful.   Chocolate fix: Make y...
Read More>>

Best Way to Stay Healthy? Call In Sick

-
Next time you get a sore throat and sniffles, here's what you need to do to avoid can't-get-out-of-bed misery later: stay home. Research shows that people who report to work sick are much more likely to get laid out flat by an even nastier bout of illness down the road. Sick at Work People who came to work sick at least six times within the previous year were 50 percent more likely to need extended sick leave later on -- as much as two or more weeks off within the next 18 months. Why is punching the clock when you're sick so bad? Researchers speculate that when people don't take time to rest and recuperate, the body gets more and more run down -- to the point where it can't keep a little illness from ballooning into big trouble.    Healthy Solution Okay, so sometimes you might feel like you really just don't have time to be sick. Or maybe you don't have the luxury of copious sick days. If you can swing it, stay home. But also try these ...
Read More>>

Put the garlic piece in the ear before sleeping, the benefit will shock you

-
Image
Typically, the garlic ingested to increase the test in food which is very beneficial for the health. It is also eaten, as well as its oil is used in troubleshooting of many problems. Garlic oil is used in many problems related to ear or nose. This thing usually we all know. But Garlic is beneficial in many other things besides this. There are also many advantages by keeping the cut bud of Garlic in the ear. So let's know, about those benefits. Helps in Reducing High fever Many times a very high fever causes due to viral or other reason. In spite of taking medicines, there is no comfort. In such a situation, if you try to sleep with a piece of Garlic on the mouth of the ear, you will see that in a short time, fierce fall in fever. Immediate prevention of ear problem People who have pain in their ear, or problems with water or pus. Garlic is a very useful thing for them. For this, cut the Garlic before sleeping at night and place it on th...
Read More>>

Adsense