Sunday, July 16, 2006

Eating to lower cholesterol (1) -- Viscous fiber

There are 3 categories of cholesterol-lowering foods. One of them is viscous fiber - the 'sticky' type of soluble fiber found in oats, barley and beans, and certain vegetables such as okra and eggplant. Viscous fibers help binding the cholesterol in your digestive tract and sweep it out of your body. In another word, soluble fiber act as a sponge, absorbing cholesterol and carrying it out of your system. People at less-developed countries (such as China) are less prone to having high blood cholesterol because their diet are high on viscous fiber.
According to the recent American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Vol. 83, No. 3, 582-591, March 2006) report, eating 1.5 cups of cooked oatmeal a day typically produces cholesterol-lowering results. Including 10 grams of viscous fiber a day has been shown to decrease LDL cholesterol by about 5%.
How to do it ? Start the day with oatmeal or psylliu-enriched cereal (I always add a bit of sugar to it). Try bean and barley-based soups, marinated bean salad, hummus sandwiches, black bean burritos and roasted eggplant. Flax is good, too. Not only does it have soluble fiber, but it's high in omega-3 fatty acids and lignans-also good for cholesterol.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great blog article! I have also gotten very good results in lowering my cholesterol by using oats and psyllium. What you say works!
Tim