Cholesterol Lowering Foods

It is claimed that dozens of foods have a cholesterol lowering effect. But there is nothing like a magic food. Most of them need to be eaten in multiple servings to be of any effect. Seafood: Though some studies found that fatty fish, like salmon and sardines, lower total and blood vessel-damaging LDL cholesterol levels (often called the “bad” cholesterol), this has been disputed by others. Still, eating fish a couple times a week is a better choice than a saturated-fat-rich piece of steak.

Garlic:  Garlic which had a reputation of being a cholesterol lowering effect has got a lot of bad press when two well-designed studies found that ingesting the equivalent of one to one and a half cloves a day, taken as supplements, didn’t make a dent in total or LDL cholesterol, nor did it affect cholesterol metabolism. While some experts still claim that whole garlic cloves may reduce cholesterol levels, critics like Dr. Tu Nguyen, assistant professor of medicine at the Mayo Medical School, are unequivocal. “Garlic’s been well studied,” Dr. Nguyen says, “and it doesn’t lower cholesterol.”

Fruits and Vegetables:  Certain fruits and vegetables are particularly rich in pectin, a soluble fiber that may help lower total and LDL cholesterol. It does its job by trapping cholesterol-containing bile acids in the intestine and ushering them out of the body. The problem is you need to eat a lot — the equivalent of six large apples a day — to get maximum benefit. Nonetheless, Pat Streicher, dietitian manager at the Jewish Hospital Cholesterol Center in Cincinnati, suggests getting three to four servings a day of water-soluble fiber foods, such as citrus fruits (especially the inner white rind), apples, berries, carrots, apricots, dates, figs, prunes, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.

Beans:  Lima, kidney, black beans and other legumes are loaded with soluble fiber that can help curb cholesterol levels. Studies have found that eating 1½ cups of cooked beans a day can cause significant dips in total and LDL cholesterol levels. “Beans figure prominently in lowering cholesterol,” says Cyndi Reeser, lead nutritionist at George Washington University Lipid Research Center. “I highly recommend them several times a week, if not daily.”

Nuts:  Nuts are loaded with fat and calories. Yet, in several studies, eating 2 to 4 ounces a day significantly reduced total and LDL cholesterol levels. Scientists speculate these benefits may come from poly- and monounsaturated fats, which can lower cholesterol when substituted for saturated fat, and several phytochemicals, like plant sterols, that can inhibit cholesterol absorption. Almond, walnuts and pistachios are said to benefit in lowering cholesterol.

Good Cholesterol

Low Fat, Low Cholesterol Food

Tea and its benefits

	Tea drinking has been linked with increased immunity. Researchers in Boston found people who drank five to six cups of black tea each day seemed to get a boost in that part of the immune system that acts as a first line of defense against infection.
	Researchers found that blood samples taken after people drank tea were able to react against the bacteria fivefold better by making a very important protein called interferon gamma. That should mean you’re going to be more able to fight off diseases because that’s a very important bacteria-fighting and virus- and tumor-fighting molecule.
	Another study found that mice who had been genetically engineered to develop prostate cancer, and who drank the equivalent of about six cups of tea a day, did not end up developing tumors.
	China has the lowest prostate cancer rate in the world and Japan is also very low, and they drink much more tea.
	Another study found that a green tea extract reduced body fat in mice, possibly by inhibiting the absorption of fats and starches,
	Drinking green tea may mitigate DNA damage from smoking that could lead to mouth cancer
	Researchers are working on developing a cream made up of tea polyphenols which would ward off skin cancer.
	Researchers in Boston found that drinking tea improved the function of blood vessels and platelets, and may therefore reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Green Tea

Tea: Few Facts

Vitamin K

Vitamin K is necessary mainly for the coagulation of blood. It aids in forming prothrombin, an enzyme needed to produce fibrin for blood clotting.

The richest sources of vitamin K are alfalfa – a plant, Medicago sativa of the legume family, having bluish purple flowers, and fish livers, which are used in making concentrated preparations of this vitamin.

Dietary sources include all leafy green vegetables, egg yolks, soybean oil, green tea, broccoli, kale, spinach, cabbage, asparagus, dark green lettuce and liver. For a healthy adult, a normal diet and bacterial synthesis in the bowels usually are sufficient to supply the body with vitamin K and prothrombin.

Chlorophyll is the substance in plants that gives them their green color and provides vitamin K.

Digestive disturbances and excessive intake of vitamin E may lead to defective absorption of vitamin K and hence to mild disorders in blood clotting. 

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin, so it is stored in the body’s fat tissue and liver. It is rare to have a vitamin K deficiency.

Sometimes taking antibiotics can kill the bacteria and lead to a mild deficiency. Vitamin K deficiency can lead to excessive bleeding, which may begin as oozing from the gums or nose.

Conditions when vitamin K deficiency may deveop:

• Health problems that can prevent the absorption of vitamin K (such as gallbladder or biliary disease, which may alter the absorption of fat), cystic fibrosis, celiac disease, and Crohn’s disease
• Liver disease
• Use of blood-thinning medications (such as warfarin)
• Continuing hemodialysis
• Serious burns

All newborns receive vitamin K injections to prevent the possibility of hemorrhage (particularly in the brain) just after delivery. Babies are born without any bacteria in their intestines and do not get enough vitamin K from breast milk to tide them over until their bodies are able to make it.

Newborns at greatest risk for vitamin K deficiency are those who are born prematurely or whose mother had to take seizure medications during pregnancy. Mothers on seizure medications are often given oral vitamin K for 2 weeks prior to delivery.

Vitamin K is needed for proper use of calcium in bones. Higher vitamin K levels correspond to greater bone density, while low levels of vitamin K have been found in those with osteoporosis. There is increasing evidence that vitamin K improves bone health and reduces risk of bone fractures, particularly in postmenopausal women who are at risk for osteoporosis.