Tangerines to lower cholesterol

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

From the Compuserve Newsdesk...thought you may find this article on

cholesterol- lowering interesting in light of recent discussions on the topic.

Sounds

promising and more healthful than the normally prescribed cholesterol-lowering

drugs. Doing a quick search, looks like Sytrinol is something one may buy over

the counter here in the states, too.

Blessings, n.

Amazing Health Benefit of Tangerines 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.