Properties of nuts to lower cholesterol, being heart-healthy foods that also contain benefits to lower high levels of fat in the blood.
Although cholesterol is a fundamental and essential lipid for the proper functioning of our body, since as we will see it is very important for the performance of certain basic and vital functions, the truth is that when it increases it becomes a danger to our health.
In other words, when we have high cholesterol, it means that our cholesterol levels (probably both LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol) are high, with the obvious risks that this entails.
Why? Mainly because although cholesterol is normally transported by lipoproteins passing into the bloodstream to be distributed throughout the body, when there is an excess it is deposited on the walls of the arteries, causing atheroma plaques.
These plaques, together with the continuous accumulation of new cholesterol, tend to increase in size, which ends up causing a progressive obstruction in the wall of the arteries, as well as greater rigidity.
Therefore, it is essential to prevent cholesterol, especially taking into account which are the main causes that usually cause it, more or less directly, to dangerously increase in our arteries: poor diet, tobacco, consumption of alcoholic beverages, follow a sedentary lifestyle…
And it is that not only following a poorly balanced diet rich in fats has a decisive influence on the increase in the numbers of fats in the blood. Also follow a less active and therefore sedentary lifestyle, along with tobacco and diseases such as diabetes.
In this sense, we must bear in mind that high cholesterol levels are considered when these figures are above 220 mg / dl.
Regarding the most beneficial diet for cholesterol, it is true that there are heart-healthy foods that, among other aspects, can be extremely beneficial to lower high cholesterol levels. And nuts, for example, are excellent candidates.
Benefits of nuts for cholesterol
The nuts are some foods recommended in a healthy and balanced diet, because they are particularly rich in nutrients beneficial and essential for our body: vitamins (like vitamin E), minerals (such as selenium, phosphorus, magnesium and calcium), monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, fiber and antioxidants.
On the one hand, vitamin E is an antioxidant nutrient that improves cellular metabolism and reduces the oxidation of fats, while its content of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids increases the concentration of what is known as HDL cholesterol.
In addition, its fiber content eliminates excess LDL cholesterol, which means that nuts are beneficial for increasing HDL cholesterol levels on the one hand, and lowering LDL cholesterol levels on the other.
Hence, eating 25 grams of nuts every day helps lower blood cholesterol levels.
And what are the best nuts to lower cholesterol?
Walnuts stand out especially, some nuts that surprise precisely because of their high content of healthy fatty acids, among which the presence of alpha-linolenic acid stands out.
This acid has the particularity that our body is capable of transforming it into Omega-3 fatty acids, which as we have commented throughout this note, help in a powerful way when it comes to reducing high cholesterol levels. LDL and increase -in addition- HDL (or good) cholesterol.
This presence of healthy fatty acids is also joined by their content of phytosterols, also known as plant sterols, which help reduce high concentrations of cholesterol in the blood.
So now you know how to lower blood cholesterol levels every day: opting for a handful of nuts. Your heart will thank you, without a doubt.
