Lower cholesterol Even smaller amounts of ginger can work wonders

High cholesterol: Lower blood lipids with healthy ginger

High blood lipids are a major cause of atherosclerosis (arteriosclerosis) and thus cardiovascular disease. Reducing regular exercise and possible overweight helps to bring the blood fat levels into balance. Above all, a healthy diet is important. Studies have shown that ginger can make a positive contribution here.

Unhealthy living habits

According to experts, several million people in Germany take medicines to combat their high blood lipid levels. However, according to health experts, a majority of patients with elevated lipid levels have become ill due to unhealthy lifestyle habits, which is why it is often possible to tackle the problem through a healthier lifestyle. As researchers have now found, ginger can make an important contribution here.

Researchers have found that ginger can help lower blood lipid levels. This is enough for a relatively small amount. (Image: pilipphoto / fotolia.com)

High blood lipid levels can be dangerous

Lipids (colloquially "fats") supply our body with energy and make an important contribution to many bodily functions. But too much of it can be dangerous.

Increased lipid levels, along with hypertension, diabetes and smoking are among the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack or coronary heart disease (CHD).

According to health experts, combating overweight is one of the most important measures to reduce blood lipids. Also important are regular exercise and a sensible diet.

For example, sufferers should reduce the amount of fat in the diet, especially that of saturated fat. So less margarine, butter and meat and more fat fish and olive or rapeseed oil.

According to medical experts, half of the energy intake should consist of carbohydrates. Alcohol should be avoided if possible.

Some foods, such as nuts, can help lower cholesterol.

And ginger is also helpful here, as researchers from Iran have found out.

Healthy tuber

The fact that ginger not only effectively helps with colds, but can also have other positive effects on health, has already been shown in numerous scientific studies.

The tuber thus acts among other anticonvulsant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic. It also helps to reduce obesity.

In natural medicine ginger has also been used for a long time against high blood lipid levels. How meaningful this is could now be shown again in a scientific study.

Lowering "bad" LDL cholesterol

Many years ago scientists from the Babol University of Medical Sciences (Iran) in the journal "Saudi Medical Journal" reported that ginger "has a significantly lipid-lowering effect".

A few months ago, another study by Iranian researchers appeared in the journal "Phytomedicine", which also suggests that ginger has a positive influence on blood lipid levels.

To reach their conclusions, the team of researchers from several Iranian universities had included a total of twelve studies (586 participants) in the meta-analysis, and investigated the effect of ginger supplementation on lipid parameters.

The results of the analysis suggest that supplementation with ginger could lower blood levels of triglycerides and blood levels of "bad" low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

On the other hand, ginger had no influence on the total cholesterol level and on the "good" HDL cholesterol (high density lipoprotein).

Two grams of ginger a day

The problem, however, is that the individual studies differed greatly. Therefore, the scientific studies on the ginger dosage that was used were divided into different groups.

It showed that two grams of ginger daily or less meant that both the triglycerides and the total cholesterol significantly reduced.

However, this could not be observed in the studies in which more than two grams of ginger were used per day.

According to the study authors, their results suggest that ginger can have a positive effect on blood lipid levels. Now, more, larger studies are needed to confirm this. (Ad)