High fiber diet just as effective
as prescription drugs in reducing cholesterol
February 17, 2005
A new report from Canada says that a diet rich in
fiber and vegetables can be just as affective as drugs
in lowering cholesterol. Doctors say the results are
good news for many patients who cannot take cholesterol
medication because of its side effects. The researchers
recommend a diet filled with hearty portions of soy,
almonds and cereal fiber.
Summary
- A diet rich in fiber and vegetables lowered cholesterol
just as much as taking a statin drug, Canadian researchers
reported on Monday.
- They said people who cannot tolerate the statin
drugs because of side-effects can turn to the diet,
which they said their volunteers could easily follow.
- David Jenkins of St. Michael's Hospital and the
University of Toronto and colleagues created what
they called a diet "portfolio" high in soy
protein, almonds, and cereal fiber as well as plant
sterols -- tree-based compounds used in cholesterol-lowering
margarines, salad dressing and other products.
- They tested their diet on 34 overweight men and
women, comparing it with a low-fat diet and with a
normal diet plus a generic statin drug, lovastatin.
- Each volunteer followed each regimen for a month,
with a break in between each treatment cycle.
- Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,
Jenkins and colleagues said the low-fat diet lowered
LDL -- the low-density lipoprotein or "bad"
cholesterol -- by 8.5 percent after a month.
- Statins lowered LDL by 33 percent and the "portfolio"
diet lowered LDL by nearly 30 percent.
- The portfolio was rich in soy milk, soy burgers,
almonds, oats, barley, psyllium seeds, okra and eggplant.
- The Almond Board of California helped fund the study,
as did several food makers and the Canadian Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
- They also included a plant sterol margarine product.
- The researchers said nine volunteers, or a quarter
of the group, got their lowest LDL levels from being
on the portfolio diet.
- The volunteers all felt full on the, diets although
the "portfolio" diet resulted in more bowel
movements, the researchers said.
Source:www.newstarget.com
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