Bust 'bad' cholesterol

But read on before you throw that prime fillet in the bin. Canadian research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that when it comes to lowering artery-clogging “bad” cholesterol, what you eat may be more important than what you don’t eat.

The multi-centre study found that incorporating several cholesterol-lowering foods – such as soy protein, nuts and grains and fruit and veg – into a diet can reduce bad cholesterol far more effectively than a diet low in saturated fat.

In fact, the authors state, levels of bad LDL cholesterol can drop to half that seen by many patients who take cholesterol-lowering statins, reducing the risk of fatal heart attack or stroke by 10 per cent, they suggest.