Need to lower your cholesterol? Try thumbing through the "portfolio diet."

New research reveals that the diet, which combines soy, nuts, plant sterols, and fiber, may work better than a traditional low-fat diet.

The University of Canada found that people with high cholesterol who followed the portfolio diet lowered their low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels by about 13 percent after six months on the diet, according to a recent study.

That is compared with a 3 percent LDL reduction among those who followed a diet low in saturated fat. The findings appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The portfolio diet focuses on four kinds of food groups:

• Substitute soy-based foods for meat and dairy, such as soy burgers, soy hot dogs, soy milk and soy dairy substitutes.

• Eat a lot of sticky fiber, such as adding a natural psyllium supplement to your diet and eating oats, barley and vegetables such as eggplant and okra.

• Replace butter and margarine with plant sterol-enriched margarine. US brands include Benecol and Take Control and brands in other countries are Becel and Flora pro-activ. Plant sterols are also available in capsule form.

• Eat a handful of nuts every day.

The new study is the latest in a series of research studies by Dr. David Jenkins from the University of Toronto. Prior research from his lab revealed that following the portfolio diet is almost as effective as taking a statin drug.

"If we let people know that they can control their own cholesterol levels themselves, we're putting some of the responsibility but also the power back into the hands of ordinary citizens," Jenkins told health news site WebMD.

With AFP Relaxnews

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Chemicals used to waterproof fabrics and make non-stick cookware coatings have been linked to high cholesterol levels in kids, according to research reported by Reuters.

For the study, which appeared in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, scientists focused on two compounds: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS). They found that kids with the highest levels of two chemicals had higher cholesterol levels than children with lower blood levels of the substances.

Both the total cholesterol and the LDL, or so-called "bad" cholesterol, were higher in the children with higher levels of PFOA and PFOS. While the research does not prove that being exposed to the chemicals causes higher cholesterol levels, they do suggest a link and point to a need for further study, West Virginia University’s Stephanie Frisbee and her colleagues wrote.

PFOA and PFOS get into a person’s bloodstream through drinking water, microwave popcorn, dust, food packaging, occupational exposure and air, according to the scientists.

Frisbee and her co-workers looked at the cholesterol levels of more than 12,000 children who had PFOA in their drinking water. The children lived in the mid-Ohio River Valley, and had higher-than-average PFOA levels. Their PFOS concentration was around the same as the national average.

Those kids with the highest PFOA levels had total cholesterol levels that were 4.6 points higher and LDL cholesterol levels that were 3.8 points higher than kids who had the lowest PFOA levels.

More research is needed, said the team, to prove that exposure to chemicals could cause higher cholesterol levels.

nydailynews.com

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