Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Harvard names 11 cholesterol cutting foodsHarvard Medical School has recommended 11 foods including nuts and fatty fish that make easy work of lowering cholesterol. The newly published list contains quite different foods that are all capable of lowering cholesterol but do so in different ways. Some deliver soluble fiber, which binds cholesterol and its precursors in the digestive system and drags them out of the body before they get into circulation. Others give you polyunsaturated fats, which directly lower LDL, and some contain plant sterols and stenols that block cholesterol absorption. > moreTuesday, October 6, 2009
Med-style diet may battle depression Consuming a Mediterranean-style diet, rich in vegetables, fruits and nuts, olive oil, and legumes, may prevent depression, according to a new study from Spain. Individuals who ate a Mediterranean-style diet were 30 per cent less likely to suffer from depression, compared to those who had the lowest Mediterranean diet scores, according to a study with over 10,000 people published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. “The results of our analysis suggest the possibility that the Mediterranean dietary pattern is protectively associated with depression,” wrote the researchers, led by Almudena Sanchez-Villegas from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of Navarra, Pamplona. > more