|
Plums improve cholesterol
Including dried plums in your diet will not only lead to stronger bones. According to recent meta-studies, prune supplementation will also lower your LDL levels.
Study
Researchers from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran collected 9 previously published trials in which people were given dried plums or plum juice and a control group had to make do with a placebo. The researchers who conducted the trials then looked at the effect on triglycerides and cholesterol.
Details about the trials used can be seen in the table below. Click on it for a readable version.
The Iranians merged the results of the trials and reanalyzed them.
Results
The researchers found no effect of plums on triglycerides, HDL levels or total cholesterol levels. Adding plums to the diet did reduce the concentration of the 'bad cholesterol' LDL.
When the researchers broke down their data, they saw that prune juice had no effect on LDL levels, but dried plums did. Dried plums reduced LDL levels by almost 22 points.
Click on the figure below for a larger version.
Plums only lowered LDL levels after 6-8 weeks, according to the figure above. It comes from a different publication than the study we are talking about now. [Food Sci Nutr. 2024 Feb 25;12(5):3080-96.] This publication is also a meta-study of nine trials and also comes from Iran.
Mechanism
The researchers speculated that the cholesterol lowering effect of plums is caused by dietary fiber and phenols, such as catechins and hydroxycinnamic acids. Catechins and hydroxycinnamic acids can directly reduce the production of cholesterol, while fiber may cause more cholesterol to leave the body in the form of bile acid through the feces.
Conclusion
The quality of the trials was reasonable, but could be better. The researchers therefore argue for "further clinical trials, taking advantage of a standard protocol of plum supplementation".
Source:
J Nutr Sci. 2023 Jan 16:12:e6.
More:
Trial (not kidding) | Prunes make you p**p more 08.08.2024
Daily intake of 5 dried plums halts bone loss | Trial 04.08.2024
Better results by adding dried plums to a weight loss dietels in humans 20.06.2019
Prunes boost IGF-1 levels in humans 24.05.2012
Archives:
Cardiovascular Health
Plums & Prunes
|
