Low-fat diet lowers cholesterol more

08:04 AEST Tue May 3 2005

AAP

A low-fat diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans has twice the cholesterol-lowering power of a conventional low-fat diet - even when the two diets have the same amount of calories and fat.

Writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers say the study suggests that low-fat diets may often fail to lower cholesterol because they contain the wrong nutrients.

Christopher Gardner of Stanford University, who led the study, says of the volunteers, 61 ate a conventional low-fat diet, including frozen waffles, turkey bologna sandwiches, frozen pizza and similar foods.

The other 59 ate a plant-based diet including whole-grain cereals, dark lettuces, bean burritos and vegetable soups.

Both diets contained identical amounts of total and saturated fat, protein, carbohydrate and cholesterol and calories were carefully controlled to keep each volunteers' weight constant.

After a month of eating it was found that both groups had lower cholesterol, but the conventional diet lowered LDL cholesterol by, on average, 4.6 per cent, while the plant-based diet lowered LDL by more than twice as much, or 9.4 per cent.