Expert recommends golden fruit to slash cholesterol levels – backed by study

One expert recommended eating a tropical fruit known as persimmon fruit to help reduce your cholesterol.

Registered nutritionist and founder of the Healthy Mays clinic, Mays Al-Ali, said: “Persimmon the fruit has been shown to lower cholesterol – eat this yummy orange fruit daily.

“In this study the tannin rich fibre extracted from persimmon reduced total cholesterol.”

The golden or orange-coloured fruit originates from China and north east India, and is now grown in multiple countries including the US, Spain, Australia and Israel – although the majority of it is produced in China.

It is also known to be high in beta-carotene and minerals such as sodium, magnesium, calcium and iron, all which come with their own health benefits.

What research says

The study referenced by Ms Al-Ali was published in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism in 2012.

As part of the research, tannin-rich fibre was extracted from persimmon fruit. A group of 40 people were split into three groups and fed different types of cookie bars – either a placebo, one with a low dose of the fibre or a high dose.

It said: “Bile acid-binding agents are known to lower blood cholesterol levels and have been clinically used for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia [high cholesterol].

“We previously showed that tannin-rich fibre from young persimmon (Diospyros kaki) fruits had bile acid-binding properties.

“In this study, we performed a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to investigate the hypocholesterolemic effects of tannin-rich fibre in humans.

“The subjects were divided into three groups and ingested cookie bars containing zero grams, three grams, or five grams of tannin-rich fibre three times daily before meals for 12 weeks.”

Those who ate both the low-dose and high-dose bars saw a significant decrease in total cholesterol levels.

“In addition, plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [‘bad’ cholesterol] levels decreased significantly in the high-dose group,” the study concluded.

“Our findings indicate that tannin-rich fibre from young persimmon fruits is a useful food material for treating hypercholesterolemia.”

Other factors that can raise your cholesterol include:

The only way to be sure if your cholesterol is too high is to be tested. Speak to your GP if you think your cholesterol could be too high.