Roman Byst
Wed, Feb-09-05, 06:16
http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.php?event=news_print_list_-
item&id=602
"Study: Diet lowers cholesterol as well as drug", CNN,
February 8, 2005, Link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.f-
itness/02/08/diet.cholesterol.reut/index.html
A diet rich in fiber and vegetables lowered cholesterol just
as much as taking a statin drug, Canadian researchers
reported 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. Several
of these have been proven to lower cholesterol.
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.
item&id=602
"Study: Diet lowers cholesterol as well as drug", CNN,
February 8, 2005, Link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.f-
itness/02/08/diet.cholesterol.reut/index.html
A diet rich in fiber and vegetables lowered cholesterol just
as much as taking a statin drug, Canadian researchers
reported 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. Several
of these have been proven to lower cholesterol.
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.