An orange a day to keep heart disease away

Oranges and grapefruits can help keep your arteries healthy and protect against heart attacks, say researchers.
The citrus fruits contain chemicals which reduced blood cholesterol levels by 20-25 per cent in studies on rats.

The findings could help explain why those who live in the Mediterranean tend to live longer and have lower levels of heart disease than those in northern Europe.
The researchers at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem reported to Chemical & Industry magazine that the compounds, known as flavanones, not only reduced levels of bad LDL cholesterol, but also increased the ratio of good HDL cholesterol.
It is suggested that those with high cholesterol could try eating a diet rich in citrus fruits as a first alternative drugs such as statins.
It is already known that grapefruit consumption can have an effect on cholesterol levels by changing the way the liver functions - so much so that doctors warn patients who are prescribed statins not to eat grapefruit because it can increase the effect of the drugs.

Black soya 'cuts diabetes risk'

Eating black soya beans could lower fat and cholesterol levels and may help prevent diabetes, a study suggests.
Yellow soya is already known to lower cholesterol, but black soya is used in traditional oriental medicine as a treatment for diabetes.
The Korean study found rats who got 10% of their energy from black soya gained half the weight of those who had none, Chemistry and Industry reports.
UK diabetes experts warned black soya alone would not prevent the condition. In the study, also reported in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, the researchers from Hanyang University, Seoul, fed 32 rats a high-fat diet.
The animals were divided into four groups. One group was given no black soya protein while the other groups derived either two, six or 10% of their energy from the food.
After 28 days, it was found that the animals which ate the most black soya had gained half as much weight as those who had had none.
The group who had eaten most black soya also levels of total blood cholesterol that were 25% lower and of LDL "bad" cholesterol that were 60% lower than those who ate none.
The researchers, led by Shin Joung Rho, said the study showed that eating black soya prevented weight gain and improved cholesterol levels, but did not suggest why the food might have the effects.