Low-fat diet is the right choice

Low-fat diets that are packed with fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains appear to do a much better job at lowering bad "LDL" &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/fun/2002/05/28/29379.html ' target=_blank>cholesterol than the conventional type, according to a new study.

Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine recruited 120 adult volunteers, ages 30 to 65 and divided them into two groups, tells the Health Talk.

EATING fruit and vegetables can double the effectiveness of a low-fat diet in reducing levels of harmful cholesterol, scientists have revealed.

The US-based research has demonstrated that while low-fat meals were healthier, they were not all equally healthy - making it more important to concentrate on what to eat, rather than what to avoid when aiming to lower cholesterol.

Meals rich in whole grains, beans and colourful fruits and vegetables, such as carrots, spinach and broccoli, produced the most dramatic results, scientists said.

Such foods as spinach salad, egg, carrots or dark-green salads were a lot healthier than stir-fried lean beef with asparagus and low-fat chocolate chip biscuits or iceberg lettuce and frozen pizza - even when the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in both was the same.