health briefs

Eat Walnuts to Reduce Bad Cholesterol and Heart Disease

Healthy older adults that ate about a half cup of walnuts every day for two years gained a modest reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad cholesterol”, reports a study of 636 people from San Diego’s Loma Linda University. Other risk factors for heart health—small LDL particles and intermediate-density lipoprotein—also decreased, signaling a lower chance of cardiovascular events. “Many people are worried about unwanted weight gain when they include nuts in their diet,” says study co-author Emilio Ros, M.D., Ph.D. “Our study found that the healthy fats in walnuts did not cause participants to gain weight.”

Try Damask Rose Extract to Boost Liver Function

The fragrant Damask rose (Rosa damascene), a common ingredient in essential oils and perfumes, has been used for a millennia in the Middle East to treat chest pain, menstrual bleeding, heart weakness and digestive ailments. A new study by Iranian researchers has found that it also boosts liver function in people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The 37 participating patients that took 500 milligrams of rose petal extract daily for 12 weeks had significantly better serum ALT (liver enzyme) levels compared to the placebo group. The rose extract also reduced triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins and blood pressure, and it significantly improved metabolic syndrome markers.

Eat an Avocado Daily to Redistribute Belly Fat

The deep visceral fat that surrounds internal organs is a major indicator of metabolic syndrome and diabetes, but it can be decreased in women by eating an avocado each day, report researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. For 12 weeks, 105 overweight or obese men and women were fed a meal that for only half of the participants included an avocado. The women that ate avocados experienced a reduction in visceral abdominal fat, as well as a reduced ratio of visceral fat to subcutaneous fat closer to the skin, indicating a redistribution of fat away from the organs. Fat distribution in males did not change.