April 11, 2001
		Diet as Effective as Pharmaceuticals in Combating High Cholesterol A recent study released by the University of Toronto concluded that a diet abundant in fruits, vegetables and nuts may lower cholesterol levels and lower the risk of heart disease just as effectively as state-of-the-art pharmaceuticals. ``A significant percentage of adults in the Western world are candidates for cholesterol-lowering drugs,'' according to lead study author Dr. David J. A. Jenkins. "Possibly a better way forward, nutritionally and environmentally, is to retrace our steps to the original diet of humans and incorporate more plant foods in today's diets,'' he said in a statement. The researchers studied the effects of three diets on 10 healthy individuals. Each person followed a vegetarian diet mostly consisting of fruits, containing about 100 grams of fiber, vegetables and nuts; a diet of mostly cereals and legumes; containing 40 grams of fiber and a low-fat diet that contained 25 grams of fiber. Each variation lasted for two weeks, and they were separated by nine months. After just one week, people on the high fiber diet lowered their total cholesterol by 20 percent and LDL cholesterol by 30 percent. "The magnitude of this reduction is equivalent to the effects of a statin -- the standard drug therapy for high cholesterol,'' Jenkins stated.