People living in Italy and Greece, Morocco and Israel all think they're eating a Mediterranean diet. But if you go on holiday to these places, their eating is a very different diet. Saturated fat rich foods can have quite a potent effect on raising our blood cholesterol. These are the kinds of fats that are found in red meats,. lots of ultra processed foods such as pastries and also in some dairy like butter. And what about carbohydrates?
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.