High cholesterol levels often go unnoticed because they are not accompanied by overt symptoms.
But the consequences can be more serious: heart attacks and strokes are largely linked to this disease. Therefore, proper nutrition and regular exercise are crucial to preventing risks. However, a combination of four foods can significantly reduce bad cholesterol levels within weeks, reports The Express.
When people say “high cholesterol”, they mean the presence of fat particles in the blood that can be broken down into two types of proteins: low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein or “good” cholesterol.
For the treatment of patients with high cholesterol levels, the first step is often prescribing lipid-lowering drugs – statins.
These medications are well tolerated, but they can cause unwanted side effects, which is why many people avoid them.
However, even previous research has shown that combining certain foods has the same effect as statins.
So Dr. Scott Harding of King’s College and his team found that a combination of oats, almonds, soybeans and plant sterols significantly reduced the level of “bad” cholesterol.
A group of 42 people with high cholesterol participated in the study.
Participants were randomly divided into three groups, and each group was asked to make one change in their diet.
The first group was eating 75 grams of oats per day, and the other group – 65 grams of almonds.
The third group was simply asked to reduce cholesterol and replace saturated animal fats with vegetable fats whenever possible.
Dr. Michael Mosel, also one of the trial participants, followed a separate diet developed by Dr. David Jenkins in 2002.
His diet included four foods, each of which, according to the BBC, lowers cholesterol on its own.
The so-called PortFolio or “Portfolio” diet includes oats, almonds, soy, and plant sterols. Each of these foods lowers LDL levels by a different mechanism.
Oats prevent cholesterol from being reabsorbed in the intestine and are generally good for blood lipids, while soybeans prevent cholesterol synthesis in the liver.
Plant sterols prevent cholesterol, as it is absorbed faster than it is, and almonds in turn contain natural plant sterols.
Healthy sources of plant sterols include legumes, vegetable oils, nuts, grains, and seeds.
The most significant success demonstrated by Dr. Mosley was – according to the researchers, “on a par with the use of statins”.
After four weeks of dieting, Dr. Mosley’s total cholesterol decreased by 25% and LDL cholesterol decreased by 33%.
Group trials also yielded positive results.
In the oats group, average LDL cholesterol decreased by 9%, although no overall effect was observed in the almond group.
In the group with low consumption of foods containing cholesterol, total cholesterol decreased by 11%, and LDL – by 13%.
Dr. Scott Harding concluded that this is a strong reason to follow a personalized diet to combat high cholesterol.