Your blood serum cholesterol is one of the most reliable indicators of your personal risk for circulatory problems, including high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. One of the best things you can do about your cholesterol levels is to understand how the foods you eat -- for example mulberries and mulberry extract -- affect your levels of blood serum cholesterol.
Mulberry Basics
White and black mulberries are a fruit native to Asia, which are now grown in temperate climates wordwide, and have been since pre-Roman times. An American strain, the red mulberry, grows naturally throughout the eastern U.S. It's a small berry that grows well in tough conditions. You can eat them raw, dry them for tea, or use them in any recipe that calls for berries.
Cholesterol Basics
Your body produces two kinds of cholesterol in response to your diet. When you eat saturated fats, you produce harmful LDL cholesterol -- the kind that clumps in your arteries and increases your risk for circulatory problems. Eating unsaturated fats stimulates your body to produce HDL cholesterol, a healthy substance that mitigates the harmful effects of LDL.
Mulberries and Fats
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that a typical 1-cup serving of mulberries contains less than 1 g of total fat. This includes a negligible amount of saturated fat, and about half a gram of healthy unsaturated fat. The fat content of mulberries will have no significant effect on your body's production of either LDL or HDL cholesterol.
Catechins
Mulberries, along with most berries, contain a micronutrient called catechins which have been shown to temporarily inhibit your body's ability to digest and absorb fat. Not absorbing fat means not producing cholesterol from saturated fats you've eaten. This can decrease your levels of cholesterol. If you eat mulberries, take mulberry extract or drink mulberry tea on a regular basis.
References
- US Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
- California Rare Fruit Growers: Mulberry; 1997
- CDC: Cholesterol Basics
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy"; Walter Willett, et. al.; 2004
