Five foods that quiet your appetite and lower LDL
It takes five starters to get a basketball team on court, but - as the Cleveland Cavaliers effectively demonstrated this year - you need another set of healthy players who can come off the bench if you want to win a championship.
That same balance of all-star frontmen and a reliable backup is required for a healthy diet. Five foods should be on your starting team: Jerusalem artichokes, asparagus, bananas, chicory root (think New Orleans coffee) and onions. They help fortify the trillions of health-promoting bacteria that live in your digestive tract, in part because they contain the nondigestible fiber inulin. Inulin helps lower levels of lousy LDL cholesterol and boosts the production of a weight-controlling compound in your gut called propionate.
A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition strongly indicates that the more propionate you produce, the less likely you are to crave high-calorie foods, and the less your brain will signal that bad-for-you-foods are feel-good choices.
So in addition to the five main inulin players, if you bring two whole grains (rye and barley), as well as leeks, garlic and beets off the bench, you'll have a dietary team that provides what you need to help achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Bonus tip: Don't forget to post up a good defense against the Five Food Felons (that is, block out added sugars and syrups, most saturated and all trans fats, and any grain that isn't 100 percent whole). Then you'll stay out of foul trouble when you sit down to eat.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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