Take to healthy foods that fight cholesterol and keep the heart healthy, urges dietician Ishi Khosla
Oats:
Dietary fibre plays an important role in maintaining our health and protecting us against many diseases like diabetes, heart disease. Oats, oat bran, and oatmeal contain a specific type of fibre known as beta-glucan. It is a soluble fibre that helps in decreasing LDL (bad cholesterol). One of the special things about the way oats work unlike other fibres is that it lowers only bad cholesterol while levels of good cholesterol (HDL) remain unchanged. This means an even better ratio between total cholesterol and HDL, ensuring increased protection against heart disease. Oatmeal is the only wholegrain food recognised by the FDA to lower cholesterol and the risk of heart disease, thereby allows its claim as a heart protective ingredient in food labels. Studies also show that in individuals with high cholesterol (above 220 mg/dl), consuming just 3 grams of soluble oat fibre per day (an amount found in a bowl of oatmeal) typically lowers total cholesterol. [Read more...]





