A new study has found that soy protein can significantly lower cholesterol levels.
Researchers conducted 41 trials to understand how soy protein effects low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which is popularly known as "bad cholesterol". High levels of it can cause problems in the arteries, due to a build-up of cholesterol. All the studies revealed data on "total cholesterol," which is the amount of cholesterol in the blood.
Through the study, the team found that soy protein played a major role in significantly reducing LDL cholesterol by close to four per cent. "When one adds the displacement of high saturated fat and cholesterol-rich meats to a diet that includes soy, the reduction of cholesterol could be greater. The existing data and our analysis of it suggest soy protein contributes to heart health," Dr David Jenkins, lead author of the study, told a news portal. Adding, "We hope the public will continue to consider plant-based diets as a healthy option." The study's findings were published in theJournal of Nutrition.
Previous research has also found that cottonseed oil also has the ability to improve cholesterol levels in young men. A team conducted an outpatient feeding trial for five days on 15 healthy men to test their theory. The team found that a diet that was enriched with cottonseed oil significantly improved their cholesterol levels.
"One of the reasons these results were so surprising is because of the magnitude of change observed with the cottonseed oil diet. To see this amount of change in such a short period of time is exciting," Jamie Cooper, the corresponding author of the study, told a news portal. This study's findings were published in the journal Nutrition Research.
Managing cholesterol levels is crucial as it can cause a host of health issues like liver cancer. "Despite its increasing prevalence and burden to the health care system, there are currently no food and drug administration-approved therapies for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease," study author Hugo Rosen told a news portal. Adding, "There's an urgent need to better understand the causes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease progression so that successful therapeutics can be designed and brought into clinical practice."
