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[tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>]

This diet is hardly what you would call as intuitive, and you will have 
to hunt for the ingredients, but if you want to avoid the side-effects 
of statins, this is the way to go.




CURRENT EVENTS TOPIC:
     "A diet rich in fiber and vegetables lowered cholesterol just as 
much as taking a statin drug, Canadian researchers reported on February 
7, 2005. They said people who cannot tolerate the statin drugs because 
of side-effects can turn to the diet, which they said their volunteers 
could easily follow. David Jenkins of St. Michael's Hospital and the 
University of Toronto and colleagues created what they called a diet 
"portfolio" high in soy protein, almonds, and cereal fiber as well as 
plant sterols -- tree-based compounds used in cholesterol-lowering 
margarines, salad dressing and other products. They tested their diet on 
34 overweight men and women, comparing it with a low-fat diet and with a 
normal diet plus a generic statin drug, lovastatin


WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A diet rich in fiber and vegetables lowered 
cholesterol just as much as taking a statin drug, Canadian researchers 
reported Monday.

They said people who cannot tolerate the statin drugs because of 
side-effects can turn to the diet, which they said their volunteers 
could easily follow.

David Jenkins of St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto 
and colleagues created what they called a diet "portfolio" high in soy 
protein, almonds, and cereal fiber as well as plant sterols -- 
tree-based compounds used in cholesterol-lowering margarines, salad 
dressing and other products.

They tested their diet on 34 overweight men and women, comparing it with 
a low-fat diet and with a normal diet plus a generic statin drug, 
lovastatin.

Each volunteer followed each regimen for a month, with a break in 
between each treatment cycle.

Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Jenkins and 
colleagues said the low-fat diet lowered LDL -- the low-density 
lipoprotein or "bad" cholesterol -- by 8.5 percent after a month. 
Statins lowered LDL by 33 percent and the "portfolio" diet lowered LDL 
by nearly 30 percent.

The portfolio was rich in soy milk, soy burgers, almonds, oats, barley, 
psyllium seeds, okra and eggplant. The Almond Board of California helped 
fund the study, as did several food makers and the Canadian Natural 
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

They also included a plant sterol margarine product. Several of these 
have been proven to lower cholesterol.

The researchers said nine volunteers, or a quarter of the group, got 
their lowest LDL levels from being on the portfolio diet.

The volunteers all felt full on the diets although the "portfolio" diet 
resulted in more bowel movements, the researchers said.