Eating nuts may help lower cholesterol levels, US research suggests.
The review of 25 studies, involving nearly 600 people, showed eating on average 67g of nuts – a small bag – a day reduced cholesterol levels by 7.4%.
The US Loma Linda University team believes nuts may help prevent the absorption of cholesterol.
UK experts said the research showed nuts were an important part of a healthy diet, but warned against eating nuts covered in sugar or salt.
Previous work has indicated eating nuts regularly is beneficial, but the Archives of Internal Medicine study set out to put an accurate figure on the effect.
As well as improving cholesterol levels, it also reduced the amount of triglyceride, a type of blood fat that has been linked to heart disease.
However, the impact was least pronounced among the overweight.
Eating nuts may help lower cholesterol levels
There are several reasons nuts may be useful in protecting from coronary artery disease. Nuts contain a lot of unsaturated fatty acids, and are low in saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids are a major cause of high cholesterol, and substituting unsaturated for saturated fatty acids in the diet has long been recommended as part of a cholesterol-lowering diet. Thus, nuts appear to help lower cholesterol levels.
Nuts also contain the antioxidant vitamin E, folic acid (which reduces homocysteine levels) and plant fiber (which can reduce cholesterol levels). In addition, nuts contain arginine, which is a precursor to nitric acid, a substance made in the walls of blood vessels that relaxes the blood vessels and prevents clotting. Walnuts, in particular, contain alpha-linolenic acid, which is a precursor of omega-3 fatty acid, which is thought to protect against heart disease.
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June 1st, 2010 at 5:06 pm
Turnips may have anti-diabetic benefits, say researchers.
The vegetable has been shown to have a positive effect on glucose and fat levels, both of which play a role in type 2 diabetes.
This is the most common form of the disease, which occurs when the body makes too little insulin or cannot properly use the insulin it makes to mop up excess blood sugar.
Type 2 diabetes is linked to lack of exercise and being overweight. Turnip extract was given to laboratory mice with the condition.
Results showed it increased the speed with which fat was processed and lowered cholesterol, as well as reducing glucose levels.
‘Studies should now be carried out to develop turnip extract as a novel therapy for type 2 diabetes,’ say scientists from the National University in South Korea.