How to lower cholesterol
Jul 25, 2006
YOU are what you eat and not everything that is delicious is good for the body. <i><b>The Sunday Times</b></i> last Sunday ran an article on cholesterol-busting foods that keep cholesterol in check. Below is an edited version:
YOU are what you eat and not everything that is delicious is good for the body. The Sunday Times last Sunday ran an article on cholesterol-busting foods that keep cholesterol in check. Below is an edited version:
Many people in Uganda have lost their lives to heart-related ailments. Mulago Hospital doesn’t have a heart machine and patients are referred to India. Yet the most dangerous cause of heart problems, cholesterol, can be contained to avoid a gloomy future. Check your cholesterol now and start eating right.
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance in the blood. When there is too much cholesterol, it builds up on the walls of the arteries. Over time, this causes “hardening of the arteriesâ€â€” they become narrow and blood flow to the heart is slowed down or blocked.
If enough blood and oxygen cannot reach your heart, you may suffer chest pain. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by a blockage, the result is a heart attack.
High blood cholesterol does not cause symptoms; so many people are unaware that their cholesterol level is too high.
It is important to find out what your cholesterol numbers are because lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens the risk of developing heart disease and reduces the chance of a heart attack or dying of heart disease, even if you already have it. Cholesterol lowering is important for everyone —younger, middle age, and older adults; women and men; and people with or without heart disease.
Cholesterol may be caused by under-active thyroids, diabetes and kidney and liver problems and the genetic familial hypercholesterolaemia, which causes the liver to produce too much cholesterol. But for the majority, high cholesterol is largely a question of diet.
Begin by cutting back on foods that are rich in saturated and trans-fats, as these stimulate the liver to produce extra cholesterol. The liver usually produces about one gramme of cholesterol a day, but this can be increased several times over by the consumption of foods such as fatty meat, deep-fried take-away foods, biscuits, cakes, pies and pastries.
Take on whole grain foods, lots of vegetables, fruit, low-fat dairy foods, very lean meat and fish, as well as small amounts of fat and sugar.
Nuts contain a plant compound known as phytosterols, which can block absorption of cholesterol in the intestines, grab the molecules and haul them out of the body in faecal matter.
Soluble fibre found in oats, apples, pears and legumes such as peas and red kidney beans has a similar ability to grab cholesterol, as do yoghurt, which can reduce LDL cholesterol by up to 14%.
Drink two glasses of soya milk (which contain roughly 25g of soy protein).
Similarly, one glass of alcohol a day (red wine or otherwise), omega-3 oils from oily fish and hemp seeds and bread, milk, eggs and garlic fortified with omega-3 have similar effects.
Avocados contain beta-sitosterol, a super nutrient that blocks cholesterol absorption through the intestine wall. And the super nutrients in pomegranates seem to boost levels of the paraoxonase enzyme, which attacks and breaks down cholesterol patches on artery walls. Just 100ml of pomegranate juice daily seems to do the trick.
Very little of the cholesterol found in eggs, prawns, shellfish and liver is absorbed by the intestine and into your blood, so unless you have familial hypercholesterolaemia, there is no need to cut these out of your diet. If you can lower your cholesterol (without resorting to drugs), lose weight and, incidentally, increase your antioxidant intake from fruit, vegetables and whole grain foods — which help you to look younger — it has to be worth a try.
Many people in Uganda have lost their lives to heart-related ailments. Mulago Hospital doesn’t have a heart machine and patients are referred to India. Yet the most dangerous cause of heart problems, cholesterol, can be contained to avoid a gloomy future. Check your cholesterol now and start eating right.
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance in the blood. When there is too much cholesterol, it builds up on the walls of the arteries. Over time, this causes “hardening of the arteriesâ€â€” they become narrow and blood flow to the heart is slowed down or blocked.
If enough blood and oxygen cannot reach your heart, you may suffer chest pain. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by a blockage, the result is a heart attack.
High blood cholesterol does not cause symptoms; so many people are unaware that their cholesterol level is too high.
It is important to find out what your cholesterol numbers are because lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens the risk of developing heart disease and reduces the chance of a heart attack or dying of heart disease, even if you already have it. Cholesterol lowering is important for everyone —younger, middle age, and older adults; women and men; and people with or without heart disease.
Cholesterol may be caused by under-active thyroids, diabetes and kidney and liver problems and the genetic familial hypercholesterolaemia, which causes the liver to produce too much cholesterol. But for the majority, high cholesterol is largely a question of diet.
Begin by cutting back on foods that are rich in saturated and trans-fats, as these stimulate the liver to produce extra cholesterol. The liver usually produces about one gramme of cholesterol a day, but this can be increased several times over by the consumption of foods such as fatty meat, deep-fried take-away foods, biscuits, cakes, pies and pastries.
Take on whole grain foods, lots of vegetables, fruit, low-fat dairy foods, very lean meat and fish, as well as small amounts of fat and sugar.
Nuts contain a plant compound known as phytosterols, which can block absorption of cholesterol in the intestines, grab the molecules and haul them out of the body in faecal matter.
Soluble fibre found in oats, apples, pears and legumes such as peas and red kidney beans has a similar ability to grab cholesterol, as do yoghurt, which can reduce LDL cholesterol by up to 14%.
Drink two glasses of soya milk (which contain roughly 25g of soy protein).
Similarly, one glass of alcohol a day (red wine or otherwise), omega-3 oils from oily fish and hemp seeds and bread, milk, eggs and garlic fortified with omega-3 have similar effects.
Avocados contain beta-sitosterol, a super nutrient that blocks cholesterol absorption through the intestine wall. And the super nutrients in pomegranates seem to boost levels of the paraoxonase enzyme, which attacks and breaks down cholesterol patches on artery walls. Just 100ml of pomegranate juice daily seems to do the trick.
Very little of the cholesterol found in eggs, prawns, shellfish and liver is absorbed by the intestine and into your blood, so unless you have familial hypercholesterolaemia, there is no need to cut these out of your diet. If you can lower your cholesterol (without resorting to drugs), lose weight and, incidentally, increase your antioxidant intake from fruit, vegetables and whole grain foods — which help you to look younger — it has to be worth a try.