Washington: A study led by U.S. Department of Agriculture has completed a previous study that investigated the effects of blueberries on cholesterol levels in hamsters.
The new study led by USDA chemist, Wallace H. Yokoyama showed that the laboratory hamsters, which were fed rations, blueberry peels and other blueberry-juice-processing leftovers had better cholesterol health than hamsters whose rations weren``t enhanced with blueberries.
Levels of VLDL (very low density lipoprotein-a form of "bad" cholesterol) were about 44 percent lower in the blueberry-fed hamsters.
Yokoyama pointed out that further research is needed to confirm whether the effects observed in hamsters hold true for humans.
In hamsters-and in humans-the liver both makes cholesterol and helps get rid of excessive levels of it. Results suggest that activity of some liver genes that either produce or use cholesterol resulted in the lower blood cholesterol levels.
The study is published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
ANI