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Lower Your Blood Cholesterol Naturally and Avoid Statins

on Nov 4, 2014 in Nutrition, Wellness Blog

brazil nutsA study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism (2013) found that a single serving of four Brazil nuts lowered blood cholesterol levels faster than Statin drugs and kept cholesterol levels down even a month after eating them!

Sounds too good to be true? Maybe, but The Department of Chemistry at University of Santa Maria and the Department of Nutrition at Franciscan University in Brazil conducted a study that found just that. They took 10 men and women who had elevated blood cholesterol levels and fed them one dose of four Brazil nuts. Just nine hours after eating the four nuts, the blood cholesterol levels of the subjects in the study started to drop.  Blood cholesterol levels continued to drop over the next 48 hours, leveling off  to a total drop of 20 points.  Considering that  Statin drugs take four days to lower blood cholesterol, this is impressive.  Even more astounding, the test patients continued to maintain the lowered blood cholesterol levels for one month after ingesting the nuts. Since they only followed the test subjects for one month, we are left  wondering how long the lowered blood cholesterol effect may have lasted.  What could explain these phenomenal results?  Researchers theorize that perhaps it is the anti-inflammatory effect of the naturally high levels of selenium found in Brazil Nuts. While this is only one study done on only ten people; it isn’t enough research to make a definitive conclusion.  But considering there are no negative side effects from eating a few Brazil nuts and the potential to naturally lower blood cholesterol without taking dangerous drugs, it seems a reasonable nutrition strategy!