Eight products put to the cholesterol-lowering test.
New Cholesterol Fighters
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Avoiding meat is only one part of the picture. A healthy vegetarian diet should be chock full of foods with known benefits. Within the last 12 months, eight products were tested—some for the first time ever—to see what they would do to our LDL, our bad cholesterol.
Almonds, Cheerios, cola, flax seeds, flax oil, kiwi fruits, red yeast rice, and strawberries. First up, almonds—packed with nutrition, but might they raise our cholesterol? Or, does eating almonds not affect our cholesterol? Or, does eating almonds lower our cholesterol? Almonds lower our cholesterol.
What about the hype about Cheerios? Do they really lower cholesterol? Yes, they do, but they also have a tablespoon of sugar in them, per serving—and that’s before you add extra sugar. We should stick to oatmeal for the best of both worlds.
Obviously, soda is just plain bad for us—but does it actually affect our cholesterol? Only the cola—isn’t that interesting? The other sodas don’t do it; so colas are particularly bad for us.
Flax seeds are a given—definitely lower our cholesterol. But what about flaxseed oil? It doesn’t work. Flax seeds, but not flax seed oil, lower our cholesterol—another reason the ground seeds are better.
Kiwis are definitely a first. No one had ever tested their ability to affect our cholesterol—until now. Two kiwis a day for eight weeks significantly improved cholesterol levels. What a yummy way to help our hearts.
Red yeast rice. It’s actually red mold rice. Moldy rice, a fermented food, prized in Chinese medicine, which can be taken as a supplement. Does it work? Yes, it does—because the red mold actually produces lovastatin, sold for billions of dollars as Mevacor. Just like there’s a mold that makes penicillin, there’s a mold that makes a cholesterol medication. The problem is, by eating the rice, you could have all the side-effects, without the dose standardization.
And finally, speaking of yummy ways to lower our cholesterol, what about strawberries? I wish! Strawberries have all sorts of amazing properties, as I’ve documented over the years, but unfortunately, lowering our cholesterol is not one of them.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Becoming a vegetarian. Avoiding meat is only one part of the picture. A healthy vegetarian diet should be chock-full of foods with known benefits. Harv Womens Health Watch. 2009 Oct;17(2):4-6.
- Kris-Etherton PM, Karmally W, Ramakrishnan R. Almonds lower LDL cholesterol. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Sep;109(9):1521-2; author reply 1522-3.
- Maki KC, Beiseigel JM, Jonnalagadda SS, Gugger CK, Reeves MS, Farmer MV, Kaden VN, Rains TM. Whole-grain ready-to-eat oat cereal, as part of a dietary program for weight loss, reduces low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adults with overweight and obesity more than a dietary program including low-fiber control foods. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010 Feb;110(2):205-14.
- Høstmark AT, Tomten SE. Cola intake and serum lipids in the Oslo Health Study. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2009 Oct;34(5):901-6.
- Pan A, Yu D, Demark-Wahnefried W, Franco OH, Lin X. Meta-analysis of the effects of flaxseed interventions on blood lipids. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Aug;90(2):288-97. Epub 2009 Jun 10.
- Chang WH, Liu JF. Effects of kiwifruit consumption on serum lipid profiles and antioxidative status in hyperlipidemic subjects. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009 Dec;60(8):709-16.
- Borden WB. Red yeast rice for dyslipidemia in statin-intolerant patients. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2010 Jan;12(1):11-3.
- Jenkins DJ, Nguyen TH, Kendall CW, Faulkner DA, Bashyam B, Kim IJ, Ireland C, Patel D, Vidgen E, Josse AR, Sesso HD, Burton-Freeman B, Josse RG, Leiter LA, Singer W. The effect of strawberries in a cholesterol-lowering dietary portfolio. Metabolism. 2008 Dec;57(12):1636-44.
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Avoiding meat is only one part of the picture. A healthy vegetarian diet should be chock full of foods with known benefits. Within the last 12 months, eight products were tested—some for the first time ever—to see what they would do to our LDL, our bad cholesterol.
Almonds, Cheerios, cola, flax seeds, flax oil, kiwi fruits, red yeast rice, and strawberries. First up, almonds—packed with nutrition, but might they raise our cholesterol? Or, does eating almonds not affect our cholesterol? Or, does eating almonds lower our cholesterol? Almonds lower our cholesterol.
What about the hype about Cheerios? Do they really lower cholesterol? Yes, they do, but they also have a tablespoon of sugar in them, per serving—and that’s before you add extra sugar. We should stick to oatmeal for the best of both worlds.
Obviously, soda is just plain bad for us—but does it actually affect our cholesterol? Only the cola—isn’t that interesting? The other sodas don’t do it; so colas are particularly bad for us.
Flax seeds are a given—definitely lower our cholesterol. But what about flaxseed oil? It doesn’t work. Flax seeds, but not flax seed oil, lower our cholesterol—another reason the ground seeds are better.
Kiwis are definitely a first. No one had ever tested their ability to affect our cholesterol—until now. Two kiwis a day for eight weeks significantly improved cholesterol levels. What a yummy way to help our hearts.
Red yeast rice. It’s actually red mold rice. Moldy rice, a fermented food, prized in Chinese medicine, which can be taken as a supplement. Does it work? Yes, it does—because the red mold actually produces lovastatin, sold for billions of dollars as Mevacor. Just like there’s a mold that makes penicillin, there’s a mold that makes a cholesterol medication. The problem is, by eating the rice, you could have all the side-effects, without the dose standardization.
And finally, speaking of yummy ways to lower our cholesterol, what about strawberries? I wish! Strawberries have all sorts of amazing properties, as I’ve documented over the years, but unfortunately, lowering our cholesterol is not one of them.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- Becoming a vegetarian. Avoiding meat is only one part of the picture. A healthy vegetarian diet should be chock-full of foods with known benefits. Harv Womens Health Watch. 2009 Oct;17(2):4-6.
- Kris-Etherton PM, Karmally W, Ramakrishnan R. Almonds lower LDL cholesterol. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Sep;109(9):1521-2; author reply 1522-3.
- Maki KC, Beiseigel JM, Jonnalagadda SS, Gugger CK, Reeves MS, Farmer MV, Kaden VN, Rains TM. Whole-grain ready-to-eat oat cereal, as part of a dietary program for weight loss, reduces low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in adults with overweight and obesity more than a dietary program including low-fiber control foods. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010 Feb;110(2):205-14.
- Høstmark AT, Tomten SE. Cola intake and serum lipids in the Oslo Health Study. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2009 Oct;34(5):901-6.
- Pan A, Yu D, Demark-Wahnefried W, Franco OH, Lin X. Meta-analysis of the effects of flaxseed interventions on blood lipids. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Aug;90(2):288-97. Epub 2009 Jun 10.
- Chang WH, Liu JF. Effects of kiwifruit consumption on serum lipid profiles and antioxidative status in hyperlipidemic subjects. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009 Dec;60(8):709-16.
- Borden WB. Red yeast rice for dyslipidemia in statin-intolerant patients. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2010 Jan;12(1):11-3.
- Jenkins DJ, Nguyen TH, Kendall CW, Faulkner DA, Bashyam B, Kim IJ, Ireland C, Patel D, Vidgen E, Josse AR, Sesso HD, Burton-Freeman B, Josse RG, Leiter LA, Singer W. The effect of strawberries in a cholesterol-lowering dietary portfolio. Metabolism. 2008 Dec;57(12):1636-44.
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New Cholesterol Fighters
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Content URLDoctor's Note
For more on the topic, check out these videos:
Cholesterol Feeds Breast Cancer Cells
The Actual Benefit of Diet vs. Drugs
Does Cholesterol Size Matter?
Statin Cholesterol Drugs & Invasive Breast Cancer
And check out my other videos on cholesterol.
For further context, also see my associated blog posts: Stool Size & Breast Cancer Risk, Vitamin B12: how much, how often?, and Is Caffeinated Tea Really Dehydrating?
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