As your blood cholesterol rises, so does your risk of coronary heart disease. Diet and nutrition experts find that drinking certain juices can play an important role in lowering your cholesterol due to the essential antioxidants and fiber content found in many juices.
Fruit Juice
Many fruits have necessary nutrients and sterols that have been shown to reduce total cholesterol by up to 10 percent, and LDL (bad) cholesterol up to 17 percent. Juice provides many of the same benefits you would obtain from eating whole fruit. The most effective fruit juices for lowering your cholesterol include dark grapes, apples, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. Studies suggest that pomegranate juice, which contains higher levels of antioxidants than other fruit juices, can reduce cholesterol as well.
Vegetable Juice
Vegetable juices high in beta carotene and naturally rich in sterols and fiber help to keep blood cholesterol down. Carrot and wheatgrass juice are considered the best vegetable juices for lowering cholesterol. Carrot juice, sometimes known as the miracle juice, can greatly improve your health. Two and a half medium-sized raw carrots juiced and drunken daily will lower blood cholesterol by about 11 percent. Wheatgrass consumed in a juice form is digested into the bloodstream in approximately 20 minutes, making it a quick energy drink. Wheatgrass provides antioxidants that help lower of cholesterol.
Citrus Juice
Vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is one of the most important vitamins found in citrus juices. Citrus juices have several beneficial nutritive properties for reducing cholesterol and can be found in fruits such as the orange, lemon, grapefruit and lime. Freshly squeezed orange juice can reduce cholesterol up to 10 percent. Grapefruit interferes with many medications, so your pharmacist or physician may recommend avoiding grapefruit.
Freshly squeezed juices have the highest content of nutrients for lowering cholesterol. Canned and bottled juices are second best, containing more than 75 percent of their nutrients. Chilled cartons and unrefrigerated mini-boxes usually contain slightly less essential nutrients and have a shorter shelf life. Juices vary, depending on what was in the fruit before it was pressed and what has been added to the juice.
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