also has beneficial effects on cholesterol and lipids. Another way to reduce cholesterol is to avoid it in our diets. Most of us know the usual suspects; meat, eggs, and processed foods. Also watch for products with trans-fatty acids; I think this will make big news later with regards to its affects on cholesterol. But what about fructose? It is found in almost everything sweet; soda, candies, junk foods and fruit. Did you know that it can raise cholesterol? One study found that a high fructose diet raised LDL cholesterol by 9%. These results may be hard to extrapolate to real life because the amount of fructose ingested in the study was consid
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erably higher than the average diet. For a good, referenced discussion about fructose and cholesterol visit, http://www.foodandhealth.com/
fructose.shtml. The amount of fructose found in fruits is not considered to be a significant enough source to raise cholesterol.
.....This is certainly a lot to digest - sorry, bad joke - but there are a lot of natural options to help reduce cholesterol. Many of these suggestions can be incorporated in one’s lifestyle without even purchasing a supplement; increasing fibre intake, soy products, getting regular exercise and avoiding fructose. I usually stress the avoidance of ‘convenience’ foods high in, |
fructose. Many of these products have little nutritional value anyways; have an apple instead. Don’t be fooled by the ‘low-fat’ food phenomenon, which I feel can be a real problem. In many cases, these products are lower in fat but they have similar amounts of calories as their regular fat counterparts. Most of the fat calories are replaced with sugar; high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose (50% fructose) to be exact. So you may not be any better off. So watch those labels, but better yet avoid processed foods. Your heart will thank you for it.
Written By Ian Lloyd, Pharmacist & Chartered Herbalist
Peoples Pharmacy, Victoria |
