Beneficial Foods for Reducing Artery Plaque

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Beneficial Foods for Reducing Artery Plaque

JoAnn Guest

Oct 16, 2002 15:13 PDT

 

" Food Your Miracle Medicine "

 

Some components of cholesterol are dangerous

to arteries, while others are beneficial.

 

Furthermore, what you eat may actually detoxify detrimental

cholesterol so it cannot harm arteries.

 

Regardless of cholesterol's complexities,

one thing is undeniable: What you eat can put a striking dent in

dangerous cholesterol and more spectacularly, according to new

findings,change its character so it is not so deadly!

 

This radical way of controlling cholesterol by detoxifying it,

according to new research, promises to dramatically slow the

progression of atherosclerosis by 50 to 70 percent and even help

reverse existing artery clogging by shrinking the clumps of plaque

on artery walls, says leading researcher Daniel Steinberg, M.D., at

the University of California School of Medicine in San Diego.

 

" We can now attack the disease at the artery wall

as well by simply lowering LDL cholesterol. It's very exciting, " he

says.

 

HOW YOU CAN USE FOOD TO CONTROL CHOLESTEROL

 

Essentially, you should eat in a way to lower one type of

cholesterol, called LDL (low-density lipoprotein), and boost another

type, known as HDL (high density lipoprotein).

 

That's because the LDLs are " bad-guys " that serve as raw material to

clog arteries. In contrast, the good-guy HDLs gobble up the LDL

" villains " and cart them to the liver, where they are annihilated!

 

Obviously, the more HDL and the less LDL you have in your blood, the

safer your arteries. Certain foods help bring this about by

destroying detrimental LDLs and creating beneficial HDLs.

 

Now enters an exciting new theory that promises to make it possible

to control cholesterol with food in ways unimagined even a few years

ago.

 

According to that new theory put forth by Dr. Steinberg and many

others, here's how arteries get clogged:

 

Special forms of oxygen known as free radicals in the blood collide

with fatty LDL cholesterol molecules, oxidizing them. The LDL then

turns rancid, much as unrefrigerated butter does.

 

In this altered form it is quickly gobbled up by cells called

macrophages.

 

Stuffed with fat globules, the macrophages enlarge into

dreaded " foam cells " which insinuate themselves into artery walls,

triggering artery destruction!

 

If you can prevent this toxic transformation, your LDL cholesterol

may remain relatively harmless.

 

So the issue is not just how much LDL cholesterol your blood

contains, but how much of it is " Toxic

Oxidized LDL, " capable of clogging your arteries.

 

Dr. Steinberg and many others now believe that LDL cholesterol is

not so dangerous to arteries unless it is converted into a toxic

form by oxygenated " free radicals " in your blood.

 

That's where diet can be a powerful weapon. Mounting evidence shows

you can block LDLs toxic transformation, and thus its awesome

hazards, by eating foods packed with protective antioxidants.

 

This means you might intervene at the very " genesis of

atherosclerosis " at every stage, blocking the cascade of arterial

events that create clogged arteries, heart attacks and strokes. It

is a thrilling prospect.

 

Bottom Line:

 

To combat hazardous blood cholesterol, reduce bad LDL cholesterol,

boost good HDL cholesterol, and keep as much as possible of your LDL

from becoming toxic to your arteries. Here are your best bets for

doing it with diet.

 

Foods that Raise Good HDL Cholesterol:

 

Onions, raw

Garlic (fresh is best)

Salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna and other fatty fish (avoid farmed

varieties)

Oysters, Mussels

Grape Seed Oil

Almonds

Avocadoes

Extra Virgin Olive Oils

Vitamin C rich foods (bell peppers, broccoli, oranges)

Beta-carotene-rich foods (carrots, spinach, broccoli)

Wine, beer, alcohol in moderation

 

Caution:

Very-low-fat diets (10 percent or less of calories from fat

And/or Diets containing hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils

and fats depress the good HDLs.

 

" Food your Miracle Medicine "

(How Food can Prevent and Cure

Over 100 Symptoms and Problems)

by Jean Carper

 

 

 

JoAnn Guest

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DietaryTi-

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Botanicals.html

 

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" Health is not a Medical Issue "