Posts Tagged ‘cholesterol’

Cholesterol

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol, a waxy, fatlike substance produced in the liver, contributes to cell membranes, vitamin D, sex and adrenal hormones, bile production, and other metabolic processes. However, in excess, it causes atherosclerosis, or the build up of plaque in artery walls, that can cause a heart attack, stroke, or peripheral artery disease.
High serum cholesterol is associated with consumption of foods high in saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, including eggs, meat, poultry, and dairy foods. Whole grains, beans, soy products, sea vegetables, and other plant quality foods can suppress or lower cholesterol in the blood. Risk of cardiovascular disease is commonly measured by total cholesterol, the ratio of total cholesterol to “good” HDL cholesterol, and various cholesterol fractions. See Beans, Complex Carbohydrates, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Oats, Sesame, Soy Foods, Tarahumara Diet, U.S. Surgeon-General’s Report, Vegetarians, Vitamin B-12, Wakame, Wheat, Whole Grains.

• Pioneer Study Links Diet, Blood Pressure, and Cholesterol - In one of the first studies to show the direct effects of animal food on raising blood pressure, a study of 21 macrobiotic persons by Harvard Medical School researchers found that the addition of 250 grams of beef per day for four weeks to their regular diet of whole grains and vegetables raised serum cholesterol levels 19 percent. Systolic blood pressure also rose significantly. After returning to a low-fat diet, cholesterol and blood pressure values returned to previous levels.
Source: F. M. Sacks et al., “Effects of Ingestion of Meat on Plasma Cholesterol of Vegetarians,” Journal of the American Medical Association 246:640-44, 1981.

• Soy Lowers Cholesterol - Soy protein in tofu, tempeh, and other soy products can significantly lower cholesterol levels in people with moderately high to high levels, according to a review of 38 trial studies. The higher the cholesterol, researchers said, the greater the ability of soy protein to bring it down. The report found that a diet including 47 grams of soy protein a day cut cholesterol levels by an average of 9.3 percent in a month. For those with cholesterols over 300, the count dropped 20 percent. Harmful triglycerides are also blocked by soy protein, the scientists observed.
“Even a 10 to 15 percent reduction in blood cholesterol levels results in a 20 to 30 percent reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease,” said Dr. James W. Anderson of the University of Kentucky and one of the authors of the report. “This has the potential of making a huge impact on American public health.”
Source: Natalie Angier, “Health Benefits from Soy Protein,” New York Times, August 3, 1995.

• Reducing Cholesterol in Children - Top American health officials joined in calling for a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet for everyone over age two to prevent heart disease in later life, not just for adults at risk for heart attacks and other cardiovascular disease. The recommendations, sponsored by a panel convened by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Cholesterol Education Program and endorsed by a coalition of forty-two major health and medical organizations, called for the cholesterol testing of all children whose parents or grandparents had heart attacks or other cardiovascular problems, including a parent with blood cholesterol over 240.
The panel called for reductions in fat consumption and for intake of more grains, vegetables, and fruit.
Groups that endorsed the report included the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Source: Warren E. Leary, “Cholesterol Tests Are Recommended for a Quarter of Children,” New York Times, April 9, 1991.

• Low-Fat Diet Reduces Cholesterol - In a study of 1,232 men aged 40 to 49 with high cholesterol who were put on a low-fat diet, researchers found a 13 percent reduction in mean total cholesterol levels in comparison to a control group. At the end of 7.5 years, the incidence of heart attack and sudden death was 47 percent lower in the experimental group. The scientists attributed the changes to reduced cigarette smoking and diet.
Source: I. Hjermann, “Effect of Diet and Smoking Intervention on the Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease: Report from the Oslo Study Group of a Randomised Trial in Healthy Men,” Lancet 2:1303-10, 1981.

• Heart Deaths Decline - America’s declining cholesterol levels and change to a diet lower in fat have coincided with a 54 percent decline in heart disease deaths between 1978 and 1990. During this period, the average cholesterol level in adults dropped from 213 milligrams per deciliter of blood to 205, a 4 percent decline, according to figures compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Studies have shown that for every 1 percent drop in cholesterol level, there is almost a 2 to 4 percent drop in coronary heart disease. The proportion of adults with high cholesterol (over 240) fell from 26 percent to 20 percent during this period.
Source: “Study Shows Drop in Cholesterol Levels in U.S.,” Boston Globe, June 16, 1993.

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Chickpeas

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

CHICKPEAS
Chickpeas are small, hard beans that have a sweet taste and soothing energy. They are a staple in the Middle East, South Asia, Europe, and parts of South America. Like other beans, they have cholesterol-lowering effects and are strengthening for the kidneys and bladder.

• Chickpeas Improve Circulatory Functions - In a laboratory study of the effect of diet on blood values, researchers in Spain found that eating chickpeas caused cholesterol to drop 54 percent, triacylgycerols to decrease by 70 percent, and other positive changes compared to animals fed a diet high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and casein (dairy protein).
Source: M. A. Zulet and J. A. Martinez, “Corrective Role of Chickpea Intake on a Dietary-Induced Model of Hypercholesterolemia,” Plant Foods and Human Nutrition 48(3):269-77, 1995.

• Chickpeas High in Fiber - Analyzing the fiber content of common foods, Indian scientists reported that chickpeas had the most dietary fiber (28.3 percent) of all grains, beans, and pulses tested. (The highest grain was wheat with 12.5 percent.) Cooking of dhals, the traditional curried pulse dish of South Asia, significantly increased the fiber content.
Source: P. Ramulu and P. U. Rao, “Effect of Processing on Dietary Fiber Content of Cereals and Pulses,” Plant Foods and Numan Nutrition 50(3):249-57, 1997.

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Complex carbohydrates

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES
Complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides), found in whole grains, beans, vegetables, and sea vegetables, enter the bloodstream gradually and contribute to overall health and balance. Because of their protective effect in the development of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other serious disorders, scientific and medical guidelines all call for substantial increases in complex carbohydrates and corresponding decreases in intake of simple carbohydrates such as sugar, white flour, and white rice. See Paleolithic Diet, Premenstrual Syndrome, Whole Grains, World Health Organization.

• Saturated Fat and Cholesterol - Comparing the blood values of middle-aged Irishmen living in Ireland, their brothers who had migrated to Boston, and unrelated men of Irish descent living in Boston, researchers at Harvard School of Public Health found that mean total blood cholesterol levels were strongly correlated with intake of saturated fatty acid and dietary cholesterol from meat and other animal food. Fiber intake and vegetable consumption were also lower among those who died from coronary heart disease, leading the researchers to speculate that a decrease in complex carbohydrates rather than a change in fat consumption was the main causative factor in increased mortality from heart disease.
“Although the risk of coronary heart disease has been reported to be related to the intake of dietary lipids, an equally consistent finding has been the relation with starches and complex carbohydrates,” the scientists noted. “. . . The principal nutritional change that has occurred since the early 1900s has been a decrease in the consumption of dietary carbohydrates, not including sugar, of about 45 percent during the period from 1909 to 1976. In contrast, changes in the consumption of dietary lipids have been much smaller.”
Source: L. H. Kushi et al., “Diet and 20-Year Mortality from Coronary Heart Disease. The Ireland-Boston Diet-Heart Study,” New England Journal of Medicine 312:811-18, 1985.

• Complex Carbohydrates Stimulate Mental Development - At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), researchers have investigated the effects of food on the brain and nervous system. “It is becoming increasingly clear that brain chemistry and function can be influenced by a single meal. That is, in well-nourished individuals consuming normal amounts of food, short-term changes in food composition can rapidly affect brain function,” explained Dr. John Fernstrom. According to scientists, whole grains and other foods high in complex carbohydrates have the capacity to increase the brain’s intake of tryptophan, an amino acid that aids in relief of pain and in lowering blood pressure. Tryptophan has also been associated in studies with lifting depression and improving sleep. In contrast to grains and vegetables, meals high in animal protein lower levels of tryptophan reaching the brain. This “growing body of information now points to new clinically useful applications of tryptophan and thus also for the use of specific meals that would increase tryptophan levels,” Fernstrom concluded.
Source: Tom Monte, “A Nutritional Approach to Mental Health,” Michio Kushi et al., Crime and Diet (Tokyo & New York: Japan Publications, 1987), pp. 146-47.

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Coffee

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

COFFEE
Caffeine, the active ingredient in coffee, is a stimulant associated with affecting the nervous system. In medical studies, coffee is generally not associated with cardiovascular disease or most cancers, except possibly pancreatic cancer, but it may affect blood pressure and decrease infertility in women. See Caffeine, Myopia.

• Coffee Raises Blood Pressure and Heart Rate - In a study of the effects of caffeine, researchers at the University of Iowa reported that coffee raised systolic and diastolic blood pressure 3.6 and 5.6 mm/Hg respectively, most notably shortly after ingestion, and heart rate was higher overnight following caffeine consumption.
Source: P. J. Green and J. Suis, “The Effects of Coffeine on Ambulatory Blood Prfessure, Heart Rate, and Moon in Coffee Drinkers,” Journal of Behavioral Medicine 19(2):111-28, 1996.

• Unfiltered Coffee Raises Cholesterol - In a study of different brewing methods, researchers in the Netherlands reported that boiling coffee in the Turkish or Scandinavian way raises LDL cholesterol, the “bad” cholesterol, while filtered coffee does not affect cholesterol. The scientists identi-fied cafestol and kahweol, diterpene lipids, in coffee beans as the cholesterol-raising ingredients, which are retained by a paper filter but extracted by hot water.
Source: R. Urgert and M. B. Katan, “The Cholesterol-Raising Factor from Coffee Beans,” Annual Reveiw of Nutrition 17:305-24, 1997.

• Coffee and Lifestyle - In a study associating lifestyle factors with coffee and tea consumption, researchers reported that coffee drinking is “positively associated with factors that promote coronary heart disease, while drinking tea is associated with a preventive lifestyle.” The survey of 2,400 men and women aged 25 to 64 found that coffee intake was associated with a higher frequency of meat dinners including more fat, more sausages, and more eggs and less fruit. Tea drinking was linked to higher fish, salad, vegetable and fruit consumption. Coffee drinks also exercised less, while tea drinkers exercised more.
Source: Bernhard Schwarz, M.D., et al. “Coffee, Tea, and Lifestyle,” Preventive Medicine 23: 377-384, 1994.

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Buckwheat

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

BUCKWHEAT
Buckwheat, a hardy cereal plant traditionally eaten in Russia, Eastern Europe, and northern Asia, is popular as the principal ingredient in kasha and soba noodles. Buckwheat gives strong, warming energy and is excellent as a preparation for hard, physical labor. A buckwheat plaster is good for drawing excess liquid from the body.

• Buckwheat Reduces Risk of Heart Disease - In a study of the Yi, an ethnic minority in southwest China, researchers reported that buckwheat intake was associated with lower serum total cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol, and a higher ratio of HDL to total cholesterol, all protective factors against high blood pressure and heart disease.
Source: J. He et al., “Oats and Buckwheat Intakes and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in an Ethnic Minority in China,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 61(2):366-72, 1995.

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Beans

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

BEANS
Beans are traditionally eaten around the world as a complement to whole cereal grains. In Mesoamerica, people eat black beans or pinto beans with corn. In the Middle East and South Asia, they eat lentils and other pulses. In the Far East, they enjoy soybeans and soy products such as tofu and tempeh. Beans are an excellent source of protein, complex carbohydrates, and vitamins and minerals, especially calcium. They are associated with lower incidence of heart disease, cancer, and other degenerative diseases. See Azuki Beans, Chickpeas, Lentils, Menopause, Miso, Natto, Soy Foods, Tempeh, Tofu.

• Bile Acids and Cancer - Beans lowered bile acid production by 30 percent in men with a tendency toward elevated bile acid. Bile acids are necessary for proper fat digestion but in excess have been associated with causing cancer, especially in the large intestine. Case-control studies showed that pinto and navy beans were effective in lowering bile acid production in men at high risk for this condition.
Source: J. Anderson, “Hypocholesterolemic Effects of Oat-Bran or Bean Intake for Hypercholesterolemic Men,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 40:1146-55, 1984.

• Lowering Cholesterol - Men with high cholesterol who ate a diet including a half cup daily of dried pinto, navy, kidney, and other beans had an average drop in cholesterol levels of 20 percent after three weeks.
Source: J. W. Anderson and W. L. Chen, “Effects of Legumes and Their Soluble Fibers on Cholesterol-Rich Lipoproteins,” American Chemical Society Abstracts AGFD #39, 1982.

• Beans Inhibit Induced Colon Cancer - In laboratory experiments, researchers at Northern Arizona University reported that rats fed a diet high in pinto beans had over four times less tumors than rats fed a diet high in dairy protein. The bean group also had slower growing tumors. The experiment was designed to simulate the high bean diet of Latin American countries where there is a low incidence of colon cancer. “This study demonstrates that dry beans contain anticarcinogenic compounds,” the scientists concluded.
Source: J. S. Hughes et al., “Dry Beans Inhibit Azoxymethane-Induced Colon Carcinogenesis in F344 Rats,” Journal of Nutrition 127(12):2328-33, 1997.

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