Optimal Phytosterol Dose
Those eating plant-based diets get the most phytosterols, but there’s still room for improvement to maximize cholesterol reduction.
Those eating plant-based diets get the most phytosterols, but there’s still room for improvement to maximize cholesterol reduction.
Phytosterols are plant-based cholesterol look-alikes in nuts and seeds that help maximize our body’s excretion of excess cholesterol.
Fiber bulks, speeds, and dilutes the intestinal waste stream to facilitate the removal of excess cholesterol from the body.
A pooled analysis of studies on nut consumption, cholesterol levels, and risk of death from heart disease show extraordinary benefits, suggesting we should eat nuts every day.
Though official recommendations are to first treat high cholesterol with dietary change, many physicians jump right to cholesterol-lowering medications, such as statins, that can have an array of adverse side effects.
A dramatic difference exists between the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of black walnuts versus English walnuts.
La muerte en los EE. UU. es, en gran medida, una enfermedad alimentaria. El Dr. Greger, enfocándose en estudios publicados durante el año anterior, en revistas médicas revisadas por pares, ofrece recomendaciones prácticas sobre cómo alimentarnos nosotros mismos y a nuestras familias, para prevenir, tratar e incluso revertir muchas de las 15 principales causas de muerte en los Estados Unidos.
The whole grain phytonutrient phytic acid (phytate) partially inhibits mineral absorption, but has a wide range of health-promoting properties, such as anticancer activity. By concurrently eating mineral absorption enhancers, such as garlic and onions, one can get the best of both worlds by improving the bioavailability of iron and zinc in plant foods.
A competing risks analysis of the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study compares the danger of smoking cigarettes to the danger of animal product consumption (cholesterol), and the benefits of plant foods (fiber) to the benefits of exercise.
Given how vascular our kidneys are, it should comes as no surprise that animal protein, animal fat, and cholesterol are associated with declining kidney function (microalbuminurea—loss of protein in the urine), which can be an early warning sign not only for kidney failure, but also for heart disease and a shortened lifespan.
By preventing the buildup of cholesterol in our bloodstream, we can prevent atherosclerosis in our coronary arteries—the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. This involves increasing our intake of fiber-containing plant foods, and decreasing our intake of trans fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol found in junk food and animal products.
Atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries may be more aptly described as pimples, initiated by the infiltration of cholesterol into the lining of our arteries. The ending—should blood flow to our heart muscle be cut off by a clot formed by the rupture of one of these inflamed pockets of pus in our arterial lining—is a heart attack.
Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. But which is more protective—raw or cooked?
There are four common types of cinnamon: Vietnamese, Chinese (cassia), Indonesian, and Ceylon (true) cinnamon. Which is safest in terms of the level of coumarin, which may damage the liver at toxic doses?
La sandía es una fuente rica de citrulina, la cual ha demostrado mejorar la rigidez de la erección en hombres con disfunción eréctil leve (impotencia).
High cholesterol can lead to atherosclerosis in the vertebral arteries that nourish our spine, and result in disc degeneration and lower back pain—a leading cause of disability.
The buildup of cholesterol in pelvic arteries can lead to sexual problems among both men and women via a similar pathway (erectile dysfunction).
The effect of kale juice on LDL and HDL cholesterol, and the antioxidant capacity of the blood.
Are soybeans better than other types of beans for heart disease prevention—or does the soy industry just have more money and clout to tout?
Fortified foods, such as some breakfast cereals and types of nutritional yeast, can provide another cholesterol-free source of vitamin B12.
Since foods are effectively a package deal, what’s the best way to get vitamin B12 (cobalamin)?
A case report in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly Journal of the American Dietetic Association) of a man who went on the Atkins diet, lost his ability to have an erection—and nearly lost his life.
Por menos de un dolar al mes, el polvo de bayas espinosas indias (amla) pueden funcionar igual de bien que los medicamentos más destacados para la diabetes, y sin sus efectos secundarios.
Many of the most powerful drugs in modern medicine’s arsenal came from natural products, from penicillin to the chemotherapy agents Taxol® and vincristine.
Indian gooseberries (amla), an important plant in Ayurvedic medicine, may have anticancer properties, as well as cough-, fever-, pain-, stress-, and diarrhea-suppressing effects.
Which common dried fruit is the most antioxidant-packed: apple rings, dried apricots, dried cherries, dried mango, prunes, or raisins?
What dietary behaviors may cut the odds of developing of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in half?
A million Americans have a silent aneurysm in their abdominal aorta (AAA) that may become life-threatening over time.
La ingesta de grasas trans, que provienen mayormente de la comida chatarra y los productos de origen animal (principalmente de los lácteos y el pollo), y de colesterol, que proviene principalmente de los huevos y el pollo, debe ser lo más baja posible.
Cardiologists suggest that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs be given out free with fast food meals
To achieve the cholesterol level necessary to prevent heart attacks, most people must take cholesterol-lowering drugs—or eat a plant-based diet.
The average “bad” cholesterol (LDL) level in people having heart attacks is in the “near-optimal” range, suggesting that the current guidelines are too lax.
Most people hospitalized with heart attacks have cholesterol levels considered “desirable” under the current recommendations. Having a “normal” cholesterol in a society where it’s normal to die of heart disease is not necessarily a good thing.
Following the recommendations of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to “shift food intake patterns to a more plant-based diet,” the latest USDA guidelines include a vegan adaptation.
Unlike the United States, where the agriculture department is the lead agency on formulating dietary recommendations, other countries such as Greece rely on their health department. What do their dietary guidelines look like?
The success story in Finland shows that science-based dietary guidelines can save millions of lives.
How have the Dietary Guidelines for Americans evolved over the years since they were first issued in 1980?
What happens when the twin mandates of the USDA—to both promote agribusiness, and protect our nation’s health—come into conflict?
Hawkers of “ionizer” water machines (like Kangen) claim healing alkaline water benefits; skeptics call it snake oil. They both may be wrong.
Persin, a natural toxin found in avocados, appears so effective at killing breast cancer cells that it is being considered as a chemotherapy agent.