Eat an apple. Hey, have two. Cornell University researchers have determined that apples not only help reduce the risk of heart disease, but also can lower "bad" LDL cholesterol.

HealthDayNews reports that the study used human liver cells and found that the antioxidants in apple extracts stimulate the production of LDL receptors in the liver, which in turn helps remove cholesterol from the blood. The researchers said the mechanism works in a way that is similar to cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.

In addition, the study found that apple extracts prevent LDL cholesterol from turning into oxidized LDL, a potentially more deadly form of bad cholesterol associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, reports HealthDayNews. A previous study by the same research team found that eating apples may prevent breast cancer in animals. The study findings were presented at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Diego.

Eat This. It Will Help You Lose Weight

Eat almonds and you'll not only lower your cholesterol, but also lose weight. That's the word from two different scientific studies that may turn the lowly almond into the hottest new health food.

Eat almonds and lose weight
A study published in the International Journal of Obesity compared two groups of people who were placed on a 1,000-calorie-a-day liquid diet. One group also ate three ounces of almonds every day. The other group was allowed to eat a mix of complex carbohydrates that included wheat crackers, baked potatoes, and air-popped popcorn.

The group that ate the almonds lost more weight--even though the calorie counts for the two groups were identical. In addition, their systolic blood pressure dropped 11 percent, compared to no change in the other group. Why is this significant? It's long been assumed that a calorie is the same no matter where it comes from. Even though the group eating the almonds consumed more fat, they lost more weight. Their Body Mass Index readings dropped 18 percent, compared with the other group's 11 percent.

Why do almonds seem to help us lose weight? In a news release announcing the findings, the researchers speculate that almonds contain a special kind of fat that may not be completely absorbed by the body and instead acts as a barrier to other types of fat.

Eat almonds and lower your cholesterol
According to a study published in the journal Metabolism, a diet high in almonds and other heart-healthy foods achieved a 35 percent decrease in LDL, or "bad," cholesterol in just two weeks. A proven heart-healthy diet that was studied in a control group, lowered cholesterol just 12 percent.

It's been known for some time that individual foods, including almonds, oatmeal, and foods high in soy protein, lower cholesterol. Now researchers from St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Canada and the University of Toronto led by Dr. David Jenkins have determined that creating a dietary plan that includes all these foods in combination is just as effective as taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as statins.

The dietary plan that is packed with all these cholesterol-lowering foods is called the Portfolio plan. In addition to almonds, it includes margarine enriched with plant sterols, oats, barley, eggplant, okra, tofu, soy milk, and meat alternatives made from soy. Almonds are the only nut included in the Portfolio diet. They contain vegetable protein, plant sterols, and fiber and are rich in vitamin E.

"What we didn't know before conducting our series of Portfolio studies is that these foods can achieve such a dramatic cholesterol-lowering effect when eaten in combination--and that it can happen so quickly," said Jenkins in a news release announcing the study, which was presented at the American Heart Association's annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

Startling Benefit of Citrus Peels

Orange and tangerine peels may be better than drugs for lowering cholesterol--with zero side effects.

The magic ingredients that lower "bad" LDL cholesterol by as much as 32 to 40 percent--the same as expensive prescription medication--are compounds known as polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs), reports Science Daily of an international research study conducted in the United States and Canada. Best of all, supplements made from orange and tangerine peels have none of the potentially debilitating side effects of liver disease and muscle weakness so common with the popular cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs.

The researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and KGK Synergize, a Canadian nutraceutical company, isolated the PMF compounds from the orange and tangerine peels and gave them to hamsters with diet-induced high cholesterol. The hamsters' cholesterol was lowered as much as 40 percent. There was no effect on "good" HDL cholesterol. A long-term human study is currently in progress.

Why do PMFs lower cholesterol? The researchers suspect, based on early results in cell and animal studies, that it works by inhibiting the synthesis of cholesterol and triglycerides inside the liver. The study is the first to show that PMFs can lower cholesterol, the researchers say. "We believe that PMFs have the potential to rival and even beat the cholesterol-lowering effect of some prescription drugs, without the risk of side effects," Elzbieta Kurowska, Ph.D., lead investigator of the study and vice president of research at KGK Synergize in Ontario, Canada, told Science Daily.

PMFs are similar to other plant pigments found in citrus fruits and have been shown to protect against cancer, heart disease, and inflammation. Unfortunately, it would take about 20 or more cups of orange juice each day to lower cholesterol this way; however, KGK Synergize has recently developed a nutrition supplement containing PMFs with a form of vitamin E that seems to enhance the compounds' effect. It is marketed as a cholesterol-lowering agent under the trade name Sytrinol; the supplement recently became available in the United States.

The research findings were published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a peer-reviewed publication of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.