Delicious fruit bursting with nutrients can help cut high cholesterol
Higher HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol levels are generally considered to be 'good' for heart health - and some foods can assist with raising HDL in the body.
A tasty fruit that’s a favourite with many can also help to actively lower your cholesterol. Bursting with nutrients and a specific type of insoluble fibre the unusual fruit has been associated with cardiovascular benefits in several studies.
Importantly, not all fat is bad when it comes to cholesterol and certain types of ‘healthy’ fats can actually lower ‘bad’ cholesterol in the body. Cholesterol naturally exists in the human body, it is found in the blood and works to keep the body’s cells healthy, however, there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol types.
‘Bad’ cholesterol, also known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL), can lead to serious health issues such as heart disease or leave you at risk of a stroke. On the other hand, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is referred to as ‘good’ cholesterol because it ‘mops up’ LDL from the body’s artery walls.
This means that higher HDL levels are generally considered to be good for heart health - and some foods can assist with raising HDL in the body. One adaptable fatty fruit, the avocado, contains phytosterols, monounsaturated fats and several types of fibre - and studies show it could be helpful in reducing LDL cholesterol.
HEART UK - The Cholesterol Charity has listed avocado in a website post about ‘six cholesterol-busting foods’. The charity suggests that “cutting down on saturated fat” and replacing some of it with unsaturated fats is “a great way to lower your cholesterol” - as well as avocado, vegetable oils, oily fish, seeds and nuts are all good courses of ‘good’ fats.
The Cholesterol charity reports: “There are several foods which are not just part of a healthy diet, they can actively help to lower your cholesterol too. Try to eat some of these every day as part of your healthy diet. The more you add them to what you eat, the more they can help lower your cholesterol, especially if you cut down on saturated fat as well.”
The Healthline website also shared a post on ‘Foods That May Increase Your 'Good Cholesterol' or HDL’, which explained the science behind consuming certain foods. Healthline reported that "foods like olive oil, avocado, seeds, and nuts may reduce levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, thereby improving the percentage of HDL (good) cholesterol in the blood”.
Healthline explained how HDL cholesterol helps to remove LDL cholesterol from arteries in the human body. The LDL (‘bad’ cholesterol) is sent to the liver to be processed and this cholesterol is therefore removed from the blood.
The website post by Healthline described this in more detail: “Eating certain foods cannot directly increase HDL levels because food doesn’t contain HDL cholesterol. However, making healthy food choices could affect the way your body metabolizes cholesterol. For instance, it could help lower LDL and raise HDL, thereby improving the HDL to LDL cholesterol ratio in your body.”
A study by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reported: “The results of the meta-analysis suggest that avocado consumption may reduce TC (total cholesterol) and LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) in people with elevated baseline LDL-C, without negatively impacting body weight.”
The research was published on Science Direct, and although the “certainty of these findings” was reported to be “low”. Further studies “to better understand the effects of avocados on cardiometabolic health” is needed, the paper reported.
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