Benefits of walnuts to cholesterol

Walnut and cholesterol

Walnuts seeds are a very dense source of nutrition and renowned for its fatty acid content,

the English walnut or a hybrid from the English walnut is currently the most commonly grown walnut for commercial use but despite its name this walnut actually originated from Persia not England.

Currently china is by far the largest producer of Walnut seeds but The united States are its largest exporter most of which are grown in California.

The walnut is a great nut to eat due to its nutritional values and potential health benefits, walnuts are largely composed of polyunsaturated fatty acids unlike most other nuts and contains a big amount of ALA (omega3).

Some of the benefits of Walnuts include:

Improves the body use of fat over carbohydrates as fuel in overweight adults.

Walnuts improves sperm quality in young and healthy men.

Contain the highest amount of anti-oxidants of any nuts

Potential to lower blood cholesterol levels

Good for the heart

Good for HDL cholesterol

Improved sleep

Reduced LDL cholesterol

Reduce the change at diabetes

Possible protection against Alzheimer, breast cancer and prostate cancer

Considered to be by many as the king of the nuts, there are several kinds of walnuts, the most commonly used English walnut or hybrids from the English walnut but you also have the black walnut

The black walnut originally from north America is a nut that has significant different nutritional values as the regular English walnut for example the omega 3 content of black walnuts are significantly lower than the English walnuts while containing more arginine and selenium. Both are very effective at reducing cholesterol levels but the English walnuts tend to be cheaper to buy.

Interesting note : Walnuts has been known by the Romans to be a sex medicine, enhancing the desire and fertility.

Here are a few studies worth showing concerning its effect on cholesterol.

Including walnuts in a low fat/modified-fat diet improved HDL cholesterol in patients that have type 2 diabetes, you can find the link here.

This study has been performed with 3different groups each with a diet containing 30%. Only 1 group included walnuts in its low fat diet the other 2 has the same amount of fat in the diet but did not include walnuts

They were measured 3 months in and 6months in and the blood work showed significant increase in HDL cholesterol to total cholesterol ratio and HDL cholesterol increased in the walnut group compared to the other 2 groups, they also noticed a 10% drop in LDL cholesterol in the walnut group.

Second study can be found here.

A diet rich in walnuts favorably influences plasma fatty acid profile in moderately hyperlimidaemic subjects (high cholesterol patients).

This study was set with 21 men with high total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.

Where set to consume 2 diets each one lasting a four weeks period, one rich in walnuts and one without. All subjects had to do both four week diets.

Despite a higher intake of fatty acids in the walnut diet, the participants showed a remarkable improvement in both total cholesterol levels and LDL cholesterol both where lowered after the diet but the walnut diet had a greater effect , the same was true for HDL cholesterol which when up but more with the walnut diet then the other diet when comparing both diets the Apo B was significant lower on the walnut diet.

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What does Cacao do to cholesterol levels

Cholesterol levels Cacao

Cacao powder used in the production of chocolate, cacao has been used since ancient history by the Native Americans like Aztecs and Mayans and where introduced to the European shores in the 16^th century, first In Spain and later the rest of Europe. Chocolate comes in many forms but only the dark kind is truly made from the beneficial cacao powder where the white chocolate is actually made from cacao butter and has none of the beneficiary effects  that cacao is supposed to have.

Note:  chocolate contains alkaloids that have a psychological effect on humans, but the presence of a alkaloid called Theo bromine also known as xantheose makes chocolate toxic to certain animals like cats and dogs. White chocolate does not contain xantheose so it is not toxic to these animals.

There are several types of chocolate in existence, while one is pure or unsweetened the majority today consumed is sweet chocolate which is chocolate mixed with sugar.

Chocolate is said to provide a whole list of beneficial effects a small list can be found below:

It should be noted that the benefits are only for dark chocolate or cacao powder, cacao butter or white chocolate does not provide these benefits except for the properties this fat might posses due to the monounsaturated content, not all of these potential benefits have been proven and if they work most only work in moderation.

Cacao is rich in flavonoids:  strong anti-oxidant that protects the plant from environmental toxins and help repair damage.

Flavonols are the main kind of flavonoids found in cacao and have been found to have other potential benefits outside the regular flavonoids properties such as an effect on your cardiovascular health, it can help lower your blood pressure if you have a high blood pressure, improve the flow of blood

Cacao is rich in anti-oxidants: which are believed to help resist cell damage and too few anti-oxidants to fight off the oxidants you cause with every single breath or action you take during the day may have a very negative effect on LDL cholesterol.

It should be noted that cacao undergoes a process before it turns into your average bar of chocolate in the store and this process has been known to destroy most of the beneficial effects of cacao depending on how the chocolate was processed. However your best choice to gain asmuch as possible would probably be by looking for pure dark chocolate.

Cacao fat has a benefit on its own that it is made mostly out of mono-unsaturated fatty acids, if you read the low cholesterol page you are aware by now that this kind of fatty acids has a neutral to positive effect on your general health and cholesterol levels. Unfortunately white chocolate bars are often filled with sugar so remember moderation and look for unsweetened kind (if they have any)

But to go further about the effects of cacao on cholesterol and why it might actually be possible to include some(remember moderation) cacao to the diet to improve cholesterol levels, but remember only the dark chocolate really is chocolate.

Fortunately chocolate has been well studied over the years and several studies can show you the effect of cacao on people with normal to high cholesterol.

Plasma LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol and oxidized LDL concentrations are altered in normo and hypercholesterolemic humans after the intake of different levels of cocoa powder.

160 subjects divided in 4 groups

1 group ingested low-polyphenolic compound (placebo group) or 2 levels of cocoa intake either 13g/d for low, 19.5g/d middle or 26 g/d for high cocoa groups. The powders where consumed as a beverage. Twice a day for four weeks.

Samples where collected before the test and 4weeks after intake.

Blood cholesterol levels, plasma oxidized LDL was reduced in the low/middle/high groups compared to baseline.

Reduction of LDL cholesterol and oxidized LDL cholesterol  in the blood was noticed in the low/middle and high groups while HDL increased.

Conclusion: the polyphenolic substances from cocoa powder may contribute to reducing LDL cholesterol and elevation of HDL cholesterol and suppression of oxidized LDL cholesterol.

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High cholesterol and omega 3

Omega 3

Omega 3 fatty acids are fats often found in fish and plants. Studies show that humanity probably evolved to live with a omega 3-6 ratio of about 1:1 and in the current western diet this can go up to as high as 1:20 with far too much omega 6 for too little omega 3 causing a serious unbalance in our body since the human body cannot create omega 3 from omega 6. 

It comes to no surprise then that getting more omega 3 to try and correct this unbalance can give a wide range of potential health effects. Especially when eating fish or supplementing omega 3 fish oil to get some much needed EPA DHA and not the far less useful kind ALA which mostly comes from plants and nuts such as walnuts shown below or plantbased oils such as flaxseed oil, unless you are a vegetarian it is far better to use fish oil, krill oil, cod liver oil or other kinds of marine based animals oils.

Studies show that it is in the end DHA that matters and to get there ALA has to convert to EPA then to DHA inside the body to do the job, but sadly the body is not able to convert this very well and only a small percentage of the original ALA becomes DHA.

Omega 3 has a wide range of potential health benefits depending on your health and diet but some of these claimed benefits are controversial at best however eating a diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids does appear to reduce the risk of getting a stroke but it is possible to increase your LDL cholesterol if you get large amounts of omega 3 fatty acids, those LDL cholesterol will become larger, less dangerous in the process.

The consumption of omega 3 fatty acids may have a blood pressure lowering effect on people with high blood pressure but this has only been shown with the supplementation of EPA DHA and not with ALA(so flaxseed  oil is useless for that and fish oil, krill oil, cod liver oil and so on is a better choice if you want that effect).

There is evidence to support that that regular intake of EPA DHA can lower the risk of secondary and primary heart attacks, again this does not work with ALA.

DHA is essential for the gray matter of the brain and normal development of the brains it may then come as no surprise that omega 3 is often used as a alternative way of treating ADHD, fish oil appears to reduce the symptoms in some children and may be a safer alternative then the normal treatment with DCD.

Omega 3 has a very interesting effect on a person his blood cholesterol.

When you look at people with hypertriglyceridemia, translated for a normal person like you or me that means people with high triglycerides often part of High cholesterol. The effect of Omega 3 can be viewed here.

Note:  this study has been done using fish oil not flaxseed oil so high EPA DHA and no ALA.

Reduction of plasma Lipids, lipoproteins and apoproteins by fish oils in patients with hypertriglyceridemia.

20 patients with high cholesterol, 10 of them with type IIB high cholesterol and 10 with type V high cholesterol. They were all put on the same diet, with the main difference between the patients the fatty acids composition and fat content.

The control diet was given a fatty acid mixture of a typical low fat therapeutic diet (ratio 1:4), The fish oil diet contained omega 3 (EPA DHA),The vegetable oil diet was rich in omega 6 fatty acids (LA)

The diet was followed for 4weeks and here are the results between the normal diet, high omega 3 diet and high omega 6 diet.

In the type IIB group the fish oil led to a decrease in both plasma cholesterol by 27% and Tryglicerides (-64%) this was compared to the control group. The VLDL was also reduced. The vegetable oil diet (omega6) had a much smaller effect  compared to the fish oil diet(omega3)

In the type V group the fish oil diet had a even greater effect on plasma cholesterol (-45%) and triglycerides (-79%) and again VLDL was dropped significant to. Where the vegetable oil diet actually increased the triglyceride level by a significant amount.

The conclusion of this study is that fish oil may be very a very beneficial addition for people with a High cholesterol.

Omega 3 fatty acids have been studied for years and they still haven’t figured out if it works or not in some of the claims but it does appear to have a significant effect if you’re a normal person with high cholesterol and could be a very good addition to a low cholesterol diet, despite the fact that fish actually contain some cholesterol themselves.

It should be noted that in most cases omega 3 supplements may be the best way to go because of the pollution most fish contain these days . the wild has toxics that cannot be ignored and the fish the farmed fish is filled with medicine to keep parasites away.

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Low cholesterol with green tea

Green tea

In recent years Green tea has become more popular in the west where traditional tea consumption used to be more geared towards black tea. While many of us only heard about green tea a few years ago and with the increased popularity so comes the need to research the potential benefits of green tea in both medical as general health, this kind of tea has long been used in china and other Asian countries, Green tea originated from china over 4000 years ago.

Green tea is essentially tea like black tea with the difference that it has only undergone minimal oxidation unlike the traditional western black tea and not to be confused by Oolong tea either, oolong tea is somewhere in between green and black in terms of oxidation ranging from 10% to 75% oxidation.

The benefits of green tea

Green tea has a great many benefits according to recent research and more is found very frequently. But here are a few interesting things to know about green tea.

Green tea contains:

Catechins :

A category of polyphenols, present in significant quantities in green tea, especially EC, EGC and EGCG.

EGCG makes about 10-50% of the total catechin content of green tea and seems to be the most powerful catechins,  up to 100times as powerful as vitamin C and E.

Flavenoids

Plant pigments found in most fresh fruits and vegetables, they aid in protecting against infections, if you have a deficiency in this it can result in a tendency to bruise very easy.

Theanine

Theanine is an amino acid that will produce a tranquilizing effect in the brain, it’s a very unique amino acid found in leaves sencha. This will give you a good feeling when consuming green tea frequently.

Thannins

This is a group of complex and simple polyphenols, flavonoids and phenols, all of these are relative resistant to digestion and act as astringents, shrinking tissues and contracting structural proteins in the skin. This can help digestion if you have a cup of green tea after a meal.

All teas come from the same source, no matter if its black tea, green tea, white tea or oolong tea, it is all essentially the same plant just a different way or preparing that will determine the color and content of these leafs.

Green tea is the most beneficial due to the lack of fermentation which destroys most of the beneficial content of tea in the process. There is a huge difference between green and black because of this. The effect on things like cholesterol showing it has its place in a low cholesterol diet and other benefits of green tea will not nearly be as present in the others.

While no magic bullet in terms of any of the health benefits it does have a significant long-term effect on both health and cholesterol levels and here is a study that shows the effect of green tea on High cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. here is the link.

Modulation of Cholesterol Metabolism by the Green Tea Polyphenol

The study is aimed to find out more on how green tea is associated with lower plasma cholesterol levels. They aimed to find out more on how green tea modulates cholesterol metabolism.

EGCG was found to be the only catechin to increase the LDL cholesterol receptor which had as a direct result lowering the cellular cholesterol concentration and significantly reducing the cholesterol synthesis, which explains the reduction in cellular cholesterol

The conclusion of the study shows that EGCG might be its active constituent.

Green tea side effects include possible insomnia due to the fact that green tea contains some amounts of caffeine, while less than coffee it still adds up and should be avoided just before bed time

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Alcohol and HDL cholesterol

Alcohol

A product that has been used by many civilizations over the ages in many different products and many different religious ceremonies, nobody really knows who was the First to drink alcohol but we can probably guess this was over ten thousand years ago, archeological evidence suggest that fermented beverages existed at least as early as the Neolithic age (10 000 B.C.) wine has been known as early as Egyptian times of around 4.000 B.C. so we can safely say Alcohol has been consumed in some manner for most of our civilized history and may be a older then even bread.

Alcohol in general tends to have a lot of effects to the health of a person, depending on how much or how little this person drinks it in his daily life these are some(but not all) of the effects a person can expect when consuming alcohol including of course changes in HDL cholesterol.

Potential long term effects of consuming alcohol :

Minor Consumption                                   

Increased Insulin sensititivity                             

Lower risk of Diabetes                                      

Reduced number of silent brain Infarcts            

Increased HDL-cholesterol                             

Decreases thrombosis                                            

Reduced fibrinogen                                            

Increase fibrinolysis                                              

Increased coronary blood flow                            

Reduced risk of gallstones                                     

Reduced risk of kidney stones                      

Large Consumption

Cancer

Anemia

Hepatitis

Increased Risk of diabetes

Depression

Psychosis

Sleep Disorder

Liver cirrhosis

Anxiety

Chronic gastritis 

As you can see moderate consumption has some potential benefits but one should always be careful to not cross that tress hold into a alcohol addiction, a few glasses a day/week is plenty to achieve some of the potential benefits while a few bottles will give you serious issues over time.

Here is a study that shows some interesting effects on HDL cholesterol when consuming moderate amounts of alcohol.

Moderate Alcohol intake reduced bile cholesterol saturation and raises HDL cholesterol

This study published by the University of Bristol department of Medicine in 1983 shows the effect of alcohol on blood HDL cholesterol and bile cholesterol saturation in 12healthy volunteers.

The 12 volunteers where people with a very low alcohol intake and where given 39grams of alcohol a day for 6weeks, then abstained for another 6weeks.

The results where a significant rise of HDL cholesterol during the first  6week period wand reduced back when they had to abstain from alcohol the following 6weeks. From 41 to 49 mg/dl.

The conclusion of this study suggests that moderate alcohol intake may have some protective effects against both cardiovascular disease and cholesterol gallstones.

To quote center of Disease control and prevention

moderate alcohol consumption is defined as having up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men.

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The Effect of Mango

The Mango

Native to South Asia the mango fruit originated from the mango tree has become one of the most popular fruits in the World ranked fifth in total world production, while there are many kinds of mango for example the African mango the kind that is being cultivated worldwide is the Indian mango the same fruit is the national fruit of both India and Pakistan and the Philippines. It leaves are used in ritualistic ceremonies in many countries in Asia and people have been eating the mango for millennia or thousands of years and thus have a rich history with the local populations.

The Mango is a amazing fruit rich in dietary fiber, vitamin A and vitamin C, several B vitamins and contains several trace elements and fats that are vital for a healthy life, such as potassium copper and omega3-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. But we are here to show why adding the mango to your low cholesterol diet is a good idea so here is a study that shows the effect of what the fruit does to your High cholesterol. here is a link to this paper to show the effect of mango on cholesterol, hdl and ldl and lipid levels.

A study published in September 2001 about the suppressive effect of Mangiferine with exercise on blood lipids in type 2 diabetes. The study was performed on mice.

Materials MF was isolated by a conventional method as

previously reported.1) The structure of MF was confirmed by

the spectroscopic method.4) MF was stored at room temperature

until use.

Animals Male KK-Ay mice were used.

Under non-fasting, those with blood glucose

levels above 300 mg/dl were considered to be diabetic

and were used in this study. They were housed individually in

an air-conditioned room at an ambient temperature of

2262 °C with a 12 h light–dark cycle. The animals were kept

in this experimental animal room for 7 d with free access to

food and water.

To determine blood lipid levels, blood samples were taken

from the cavernous sinus using a capillary.

Exercise For exercise studies, KK-Ay mice were run on

a motorized treadmill, MF was administered

30 min before the exercise once a day. The administration

of MF was started at 13:00—14:00 pm. For exercise

studies, mice went without food. MF (30 mg/kg body weight)

was administered orally for 2 weeks.

Determination of Blood Cholesterol and Triglyceride

Level Blood cholesterol levels in mice were determined

using commercial reagents

the results were:

Effect of MF with Exercise on Blood Cholesterol in

KK-Ay Mice The mean blood cholesterol levels in KK-Ay

mice after oral administration of MF with exercise are shown

in Fig. 2. MF (30 mg/kg) with exercise decreased the blood

cholesterol level 2 weeks after the oral administration when

Effect of MF with Exercise on Blood Triglyceride in

KK-Ay Mice The hypo triglyceride effects of MF with exercise

in KK-Ay mice are shown in Fig. 3. MF (30 mg/kg) with

exercise decreased blood triglyceride at 2 weeks when compared

with the controls (p,0.01), MF only (p,0.05), and

exercise only (p,0.05).

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Almonds and lowering cholesterol

Almonds

This delicious little nut originates from the Levant, a region in the middle east alongside the east coast of the Mediterranean sea. This nut has been one of the first nut that was domesticated, spread by humans as far east as the Indus and nowadays grown as far west as California, in fact the united states are now the largest producers in the world for almonds.

Studies have indicated that almonds have a wide range of beneficial effects on your health if this little nut (or several other kinds of nuts) are included in your daily diet and this is of no surprise considering that this nut is stocked full of healthy cholesterol lowering fats, rich of vitamin E, dietary fiber, certain B vitamins and other essential minerals.

It is then of course no surprise that almonds have been studied extensively trough history but in recent years have been looked at more closely for the benefit this may give to people suffering from high cholesterol, considering some studies indicate that adding 25grams to your diet may give significant results already to cholesterol levels for example we have this study from 2005 out of Iran.

A low dose almond-based diet decreased LDL while preserving HDL

The aim of the study was to compare how almonds would affect your lipid profile or cholesterol and see what the effects where on the patients with high cholesterol or hyperlipidemic.

This study had a 8week dietary trial with both diets identical except for 25grams of almonds. The subjects did a diet for 4weeks then had a washout period then did the other diet for  4weeks.

The conclusion was that even a small dose of only 25grams was enough to provide a favorable lipid altering effect by the almonds.

On a side note: Wild Almonds that grow in the Levant are deadly and should never be eaten, they are more bitter then the domesticated kind and contain a deadly poison which might kill you even after eating only a few of them . how we started domestication was by selecting the sweet kind of this nut and use that instead but how they managed to pick them is unknown.

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Quinoa's effect on high cholesterol

Quinoa

The sacred Incas seed, referred as mother of all grains and used for thousands of years by Andean cultures before the Spanish arrived. Its use was banned by the Spanish due to the ceremonial use for quinoa at the time but in the recent years this little plant has gained in popularity and for good reason. But this article is about its effect on cholesterol and how adding this to your diet might help with your high cholesterol issues.

Quinoa is considered a super food by some for its nutritional value and among others this is one of the few plants that have a complete protein profile making this 1 of the rare plants that a vegan or vegetarian can use to replace meat in their diets without sacrificing essential amino acids. This little grain is a great source of magnesium, iron and calcium and its even gluten free and easy to digest.

A good idea when you try to add this to your diet would also be to consider washing it before use & let it rest in water 2-4houres to germinate the seeds. This will get rid of the bitter shell and activate its natural enzymes. Doing so will multiply the vitamin content of an already great plant.

But while Quinoa is a pretty good idea to your diet in general there are a few reasons why adding it to a low cholesterol diet is a pretty good idea to, there are a few studies that show you what the effect Quinoa has on your High cholesterol and how it can lower your total cholesterol and LDL while keeping your HDL intact.

Sadly while there have been some studies that used humans most are still only at the rat phase but some of them still show promising results.  This study below is an example

For example the effect of quinoa seeds

In 2010 this study was published by the The Jagiellonian University of Krakow in Poland. Showing the effect of Quinoa on several biochemical parameters and elements in the blood of rats fed with a high fructose diet.

The analasys of this study concluded that quinoa had a significant effect on total cholesterol levels or 26% reduction to be precise, a LDL reduction of 57% and triglycerides dropped by 11% comparing to the control group. It should also be noted that the control group suffered a significant drop in HDL where quinoa inhibited this effect in the other group.

Another interesting part was that quinoa significantly dropped the glucose in your blood(blood sugar) so it may proof to be a interesting idea for diabetics to. But the result of this study shows that quinoa may be able to reduce the adverse effects of fructose on your blood cholesterol or lipid profile.

Another article that is worth reading on the benefits of quinoa can be found here
and here you can find general information and recipes about quinoa

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the benefits of Avocado to High Cholesterol

The Avocado

This little fruit originally from south America is a fruit known for his healthy fats. Filled with mono-unsaturated fats that have a healthy effect on your cholesterol this is a prime example of the idea that fat is bad is not always the right way to think.

About 75% of the avocado calories is coming from fats with the vast majority coming from this mono-unsaturated fats such as oleic acid, which is probably one of the reasons this is often known as the butter fruit. Alongside fats this fruit is a great way to get potassium  and many other minerals and nutrients including vitamin E,  several B vitamins like riboflavin, niacin, thiamin and even has folic acid, and they contain no cholesterol themselves.

The avocado has been studied on multiple occasions to see its effect on High cholesterol and epidemiological reports have shown that Americans has shown that this is suited for a lower cholesterol diet, however this is not the only benefit this fruit may give but here is a studie.

A study from 1996 with 30healthy adults and 37adults with mild high cholesterol and significant high cholesterol shows that a diet enriched by this fruit can have a significant short term effect on your cholesterol levels

Out of the those people 30 high cholesterol adults and 15healthy adults were subjected to a cholesterol diet enriched by avocado and another 7 with high cholesterol received a control diet. The result was as following: 

In the cholesterol diet the healthy adults had a 16% drop in total cholesterol levels and for the high cholesterol subjects the result was even better, they had a 17% drop in total cholesterol, a 22% drop in LDL cholesterol, 22% drop in triglycerides and a HDL increase by 11% at the same time all from doing an avocado diet in 7days.I would also like to note there were no significant changes noted in the control group.

Of course it should be noted that due to the oily nature of this fruit a single avocado has about 250 calories. Most of which is the oil(fat). Besides the fat content of this fruit it also has significant potassium levels (more than a banana) making this a good fruit if you have to much sodium (a possible cause for high blood pressure) and significant other minerals and vitamins including calcium and magnesium and 10grams of dietary fiber.

Here you can find more info on avocado

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