To lower bad cholesterol, eating half a kilo of strawberries per day is effective. These fruits have demonstrated their benefits against hypercholesterolemia and natural oxidation.
Would you like a few strawberries to cure your cholesterol? A study, conducted by the Polytechnic University of Marche (Italy), showed the benefits of these summer fruits to lower cholesterol levels. The results appeared in the Journnal of Nutritional Biochemistry.
23 volunteers added 500g of strawberries to their daily diet for a month. These fruits are rich in vitamin C and anthocyanins, whose antioxidant properties have already been demonstrated. Blood samples were taken at the end of the study and two weeks later. Their lipid profile (total blood cholesterol level), antioxidant markers as well as platelet function (which regulates coagulation) were analyzed.
Less spontaneous oxidation
The benefits of strawberries have exceeded researchers’ expectations. HDL cholesterol (“good cholesterol”) levels did not change. On the other hand, LDL (“bad cholesterol”) and triglycerides (1) fell by almost 14% and 21% respectively. “Strawberries are an important fruit in the Mediterranean diet because of the many essential nutrients and phytochemicals it contains,” say the study’s authors.
When it comes to combating oxidative stress, strawberries have again proven to be beneficial. The level of malondialdehyde (2) is reduced by more than 30%. The levels of urinary 8-OHdG and isoprostanes, which also promote oxidation, decrease in the same proportions. However, all of these parameters returned to their original level when participants stopped consuming the strawberries. Fruits still have lasting benefits: they improve the antioxidant capacity of the blood, increase the level of vitamin C in the body and red blood cells are destroyed less.
While waiting for the strawberry season, you can still eat pistachios, apples, tomatoes or peppers, which have also shown their benefits against bad cholesterol.
(1) Triglycerides: lipids like cholesterol. Too high a level of triglycerides in the blood is as dangerous as high cholesterol and promotes cardiovascular disease.
(2) Malondialdehyde: a chemical compound present in vegetable oils which manifests oxidative stress (phenomenon of oxidation of the organism).
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