Soy protein can significantly lower your bad cholesterol (LDL) levels. So, add soy to your diet to improve your cholesterol.
Soy protein can help you lower bad cholesterol levels naturally, reports a new study. Therefore, adding soy to your diet can ultimately improve your cholesterol. Soy protein has the ability to lower cholesterol by a small but significant amount, suggests a new study led by St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
‘Soy protein can significantly lower your bad cholesterol (LDL) levels. So, make sure to add soy to your diet to improve your cholesterol levels naturally.’
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With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) planning to remove soy from its list of heart-healthy foods, researchers at St. Michael's set out to provide a meta-analysis of 46 existing trials that evaluated soy and determine whether the proposed move aligns with existing literature.Read More..
Of the 46 trials, 43 provided sufficient data for meta-analysis. Forty-one trials examined the protein's effects on low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which is often referred to as the ‘bad cholesterol’ because a high amount of it leads to a build-up of cholesterol in arteries. All 43 studies provided data about ‘total cholesterol,’ which reflects the overall amount of cholesterol in the blood.
A team of researchers found that soy protein reduced LDL cholesterol by three to four percent in adults - a small but significant amount, noted Dr. David Jenkins, the lead author of the study, who is also the director of the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Centre, and a scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital.
"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," Dr. Jenkins said. "The existing data and our analysis of it suggest soy protein contributes to heart health."
A limitation of this study was that it exclusively analyzed the 46 trials the FDA had referred to previously, as opposed to casting a wider net.
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"We hope the public will continue to consider plant-based diets as a healthy option," Dr. Jenkins said. "It is in line with Health Canada's recently released Food Guide, which emphasizes plant protein food consumption by Canadians."
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