By Case Adams, Naturopath
Research from Italy’s University of Padua has confirmed that a diet change to a Mediterranean Diet can significantly reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels among both those with and without type 2 diabetes.
Furthermore, the research found that the diet change outperformed the use of red yeast rice — a natural form of statin.
The researchers tested 171 human subjects – 90 patients with type 2 diabetes and 81 patients with high levels of LDL-cholesterol — considered unhealthy because LDL-c is known to produce higher levels of artery damage. All the patients were treated because they were intolerant to statin medications.
The researchers divided each group into two groups. They treated one group with a change to the Mediterranean diet, and the other group was treated with the diet change plus treatment with red yeast rice.
After six months on the treatment/diet plans, the researchers found that the diet alone resulted in the reduction of LDL by more than 7% and 12% among those with and without diabetes, respectively.
However, the addition of red yeast rice resulted in an average LDL reduction of 21% among those with type 2 diabetes and 22% among those without diabetes.
Learn more about red yeast rice.
This rate of LDL-c reduction from diet and statins is significant, and such a diet change has a number of other long-term benefits, including lower levels of Alzheimer, cancer, diabetes and others.
Learn more about the Med diet.
REFERENCE:
Sartore Giovanni, Burlina Silvia, Ragazzi Eugenio, Ferraresso Stefania, Valentini Romina, and Lapolla Annunziata. Mediterranean Diet and Red Yeast Rice Supplementation for the Management of Hyperlipidemia in Statin-Intolerant Patients with or without Type 2 Diabetes. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, vol. 2013, Article ID 743473, 7 pages, 2013. doi:10.1155/2013/743473