5 Super foods to help fight bad cholesterol
Posted on: 26/Oct/2017 3:35:18 PM
We get hit by different kinds of diseases caused by poor lifestyle practices. High cholesterol is one such issue which serves to be the primary cause for heart diseases.
Though cholesterol causes health troubles, especially heart troubles, it cannot be tagged ‘bad’ entirely. Our body in fact needs cholesterol to produce certain kinds of hormones, produce digestive enzymes, and Vitamin D. While our body produces its own cholesterol, we are parallelly ingesting it into our body through junk foods that we consume, thus boosting its levels in our body.
In our body, lipoproteins carry cholesterols. This is of two forms that are high density and low density. The low density cholesterol is called LDL and high density cholesterol is called HDL and the latter is good cholesterol. Here, fighting bad cholesterol is the key. How do you fight it? Here are five foods that can help you with it.
Beans
There is high soluble fiber content with Beans. This fiber content will bind cholesterol and its precursors into the digestion tract. Before the cholesterol enters the circulation, the fiber would pull it out of the system.
You can reduce 5 percent of cholesterol level just by having one serving of peas or beans or lentils every day, claims a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Oats and Barley
There is soluble fiber in oats and barley. They are known for their effect to lower cholesterol. According to a study report published in Current Atherosclerosis, you can stabilize cholesterol levels and also bring down the possible risk of developing cardiovascular diseases by consuming grains in your daily diet.
Nuts
Several studies and research claim that almonds, walnuts and pistachios are very heart healthy. Pistachios are completely free from cholesterol and contain very high protein content, fiber and antioxidants. A study on the effective of pistachio nuts on the cardiovascular health was performed and the Diabetes Foundation of India and the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation have identified that there is a number of health benefits associated with eating pistachios.
Prof Dr. Anoop Misra who was the principal investigator of the study sad that pistachios come with different kinds of beneficial effects for Indians.
The research head of the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation says that pistachios are excellent snack to munch on, particularly for people with very high risk of metabolic problems and diabetes.
Strawberries
You can largely reduce the bad cholesterol level and triglycerides in your body by consuming strawberries. According to a recent study by Italian and Spanish scientists, there is rich antioxidant properties in strawberries.
Strawberries are found to be of great help in combating cholesterol and bringing down their levels.
Avocados
You can easily control the level of bad or LDL cholesterol and triglycerides by consuming fresh avocadoes. The director of nutrition for Hass Avocado Board, Dr. Nikki Ford said you can maintain good and healthy levels of cholesterol by consuming fresh avocado in a balanced diet, and you can in fact use it can serve as a good substitute to solid fats.
