It is possible to reduce one s risk of heart disease by making a few simple dietary changes. Fibre can lower cholesterol levels via two different pathways. Fibre combines with bile salts in the small intestine, which slows down their reabsorption. The liver therefore has to produce new bile salts from cholesterol, thus lowering the concentration of cholesterol in the blood. In addition, soluble fibre has a gel-like property that allows it to bind to cholesterol in the gut, thus promoting its excretion out of the body.
Peas are high in soluble fibre and therefore help prevent heart disease.
Advances in nutrition research have widened our knowledge about the important link between nutrition and health. As a result, diet therapy and nutrition education are constantly being updated. The authors have checked with sources believed to be reliable in their efforts to provide information that is complete and generally in accord with the standard accepted at the time of publication. Readers are advised to corroborate the information contained herein with other sources.