TheBREEZE - Sun City Aliante

W W W . S c a l n l V . c O M - T H E B R E E Z E
HEALtH & fItNESS SpECIAL
TOP 10 Foods
for Lowering
Cholesterol
One of the easiest ways to achieve your goal for
better health and well being!
Almonds - Rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, almonds help
keep blood vessels healthy.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, eating about a
handful (1.5 ounces, or 42.5 grams) a day of most nuts, such as
almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachio nuts
and walnuts, may reduce your risk of heart disease. Just make sure
the nuts you eat aren’t salted or coated with sugar.
Orange Juice - Orange juice is quite high in vitamin C, which
helps boost your body’s immune system.
The high level of antioxidants in orange juice may help reduce your
risk of cancer, and other components of the juice may help relieve
arthritis pain and decrease your risk of heart attack, high blood
pressure and high cholesterol. The citrus in orange juice has also
been shown to prevent or at least lessen the development of kidney
stones.
Olive Oil - Olive oil contains a potent mix of antioxidants that
can lower your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol but leave your “good”
(HDL) cholesterol untouched.
The Food and Drug Administration
recommends using about 2 tablespoons
(23 grams) of olive oil a day in place of
other fats in your diet to get its hearthealthy
benefits. The cholesterol-lowering
effects of olive oil are even greater if you
choose extra-virgin olive oil, meaning the
oil is less processed and contains more
heart-healthy antioxidants. But keep in
mind that “light” olive oils are usually
more processed than extra-virgin or virgin
olive oils and are lighter in color, not fat or
calories.
Steamed Asparagus - There’s
nothing wrong with a platter of crudités
or a salad if you want to improve your
diet, but steaming may help improve the
cholesterol-lowering capabilities of some
produce, including asparagus.
Other veggies that get better after a short
bout in the steam: beets, okra, carrots,
eggplant, green beans, and cauliflower.
Researchers think steaming these veggies
may help them do a better job of binding
bile acids, which means your liver needs
to use up more LDL cholesterol into
order to make bile. That translates into
22 - March 2012
less circulating LDL in your
bloodstream.
Oatmeal - Oatmeal
contains soluble fiber,
which reduces your lowdensity
lipoprotein (LDL),
the “bad” cholesterol.
Soluble fiber is also found
in such foods as kidney
beans, apples, pears, barley
and prunes. Soluble fiber
can reduce the absorption
of cholesterol into your
bloodstream. Five to 10
grams or more of soluble
fiber a day decreases your
total and LDL cholesterol.
Eating 1 1/2 cups of cooked
oatmeal provides 6 grams of fiber. If you add fruit, such as bananas,
you’ll add about 4 more grams of fiber. To mix it up a little, try steelcut
oatmeal or cold cereal made with oatmeal or oat bran.
Pinto Beans - a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber,
as are most other beans.
In addition to lowering cholesterol, pinto beans’ high fiber content
prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal,
making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with
diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. When combined with
whole grains such as brown rice, pinto beans provide virtually fatfree,
high quality protein. But this is far from all pinto beans have to
offer. Pinto beans are also an excellent source of molybdenum, a very
good source of folate, and a good source of protein and vitamin B1
as well as the minerals phosphorus, iron, magnesium, manganese,
and potassium.
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