Patients with mild to moderate elevated cholesterol levels find it beneficial to have monounsaturated fat (MUFA) added to a cholesterol-lowering dietary portfolio, claims a new study. The study discovered that elevated cholesterol levels increased HDL by 12.5 percent and lowered LDL levels by 35 percent.
Low HDL-C levels and high LDL-C levels are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The addition of dietary monounsaturated fat, common in the Mediterranean diet, is a current approach to raising HDL-C levels.
The study included 24 patients (17 men and 7 postmenopausal women) who completed a very low saturated fat diet before being randomly assigned to either a high-MUFA diet or a low- MUFA diet.
Both groups of patients were assigned to a specific vegetarian diet which included oats, barley, psyllium, eggplant, okra, soy, almonds and a plant sterol enriched margarine.
In the high-MUFA group, the researchers substituted 13% of calories from carbohydrates with high-MUFA sunflower oil, with the option of a partial exchange with avocado oil.
They found significant reductions in blood cholesterol levels over the two-month study period for participants.
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The study was published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
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