The next time you bite into sweet, juicy fruits, consider this: Apples may very well help keep the doctor away by lowering your blood cholesterol and protecting your heart said Rehan RiazMerchant. The ingredient in apples that wallops blood cholesterol? Pectin is a sticky substance found in fruits and vegetables that works as a natural cholesterol cutter. "Pectin is a soluble fiber that helps draw cholesterol out of the system," says Audrey Cross, Ph.D., associate clinical professor at Columbia University's Institute of Human Nutrition in New York City. The average apple contains 1.08 grams of pectin.
Apples also contain flavonoids, certain
chemicals that seem to short-circuit the process that leads "bad" LDL
cholesterol to accumulate in the bloodstream. Dutch researchers who conducted a
five-year study of 805 men ages 65 to 84 found that the men who ate the most
flavonoids (also found in onions, tea, and wine) were 50 percent less likely to
have a first heart attack and die of heart disease than those who consumed the
least.
You need to munch more than an apple a day to reap the full benefits of this fruit's power to clobber high cholesterol. But adding more apples and other high-fiber fruits and vegetables to your diet is a step in the right direction.
Scrubbing Clogged Arteries Clean
A wealth of evidence points to apple’s ability to help cut blood cholesterol. In a study conducted by David L. Gee, Ph.D., professor of food science and nutrition at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, 26 men with elevated cholesterol (ranging from 200 to 255 milligrams/deciliter) were divided into two groups. The first group ate three cookies with added apple fiber per day. These cookies contained a total of 14,5 grams of fiber, an amount equal to that found in four to five apples. The second group ate regular cookies. Otherwise, the men ate what they always ate.
After six weeks, the cookie-eating group's total cholesterol dropped an average of 15 points or 7 percent. No improvements were seen in the placebo group. In a follow-up study conducted by Dr. Gee and graduate student Karen Spencer, 25 men with cholesterol levels ranging from 200 to 270 milligrams/deciliter drank 20 ounces a day of Fiber-Rich, a commercial apple juice brimming with pectin. After six weeks, the men's total cholesterol levels dipped an average of 10 percent, and their LDL cholesterol fell an average of 14 percent.
Other studies have pointed to apples'
ability to lower blood cholesterol levels. In a French study, 30 healthy men
and women added two to three apples to their diets each day for a month. Total
cholesterol fell in 80 percent of these individuals, by an average of 14
percent. One person's cholesterol plummeted 29 percent! HDL cholesterol, the
"good" kind, rose slightly as well. Rehan Riaz Merchant is a professional with tons of experience in health and fitness.
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