BOSTON, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- A steady diet of burgers can increase cholesterol levels but a U.S. newsletter suggests people can also eat their way to lower cholesterol levels.
Harvard Heart Letter says different foods lower cholesterol in various ways -- some deliver soluble fiber, which binds to cholesterol in the digestive system and drags it out of the body, while polyunsaturated fats lower low-density lipoprotein, the "bad" cholesterol, and some foods contain plant sterols and stanols, which block cholesterol absorption.
The newsletter suggests some of the best food choices to lower cholesterol include:
-- Oats, barley, other whole grains, beans, eggplant and okra.
-- Nuts, because studies show that daily consumption of 2 ounces of nuts such as like almonds, walnuts and peanuts lowers LDL around 5 percent.
-- Vegetable oils. Using liquid vegetable oils such as canola, sunflower, safflower and others in place of butter, lard, or shortening.
-- Apples, grapes, strawberries and citrus fruits, which are rich in pectin, a type of soluble fiber.
-- Food fortified with sterols and stanols, which gum up the body's ability to absorb cholesterol from food.
-- Soybeans and foods made from them.
-- Fatty fish two or three times a week.
