Saturated fats are what's increasing the bad cholesterol in our blood, not that dietary cholesterol. So if we think of liver, for example, liver is high in cholesterol, but also high in saturated fat. If we eat lots of liver, we'll have an increase in bad cholesterol, but it's actually not the cholesterol in the liver that's going to cause this. There's really clear evidence to show that our diet, significantly, alter our cholesterol.
More than half of us have high cholesterol — and new research suggests that having even slightly raised levels in our 30s could significantly increase our chances of developing heart disease.
Medication is a common fix, but it comes with side effects. So, today we’re looking at how much changing our diets can help.
In this short (ish) episode of ZOE Science & Nutrition, Jonathan and Sarah ask: Can we lower our cholesterol by changing our diets?
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Studies referenced in the episode:
- ‘Association between Carbohydrate Intake and Serum Lipids’ from the Journal of the American Nutrition Association here
- ‘The Mediterranean Diet And Cardioprotection: Historical Overview And Current Research from the Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare here
- ‘Direct comparison of dietary portfolio vs statin on C-reactive protein’ from the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition here
This podcast was produced by Fascinate Productions.