Seasame Seeds Protect Postmenopausal Women from Heart Disease

Here’s a simple, tasty way to prevent heart disease. When postmenopausal women were given 50g (that’s about 3 tablespoons) of ground toasted sesame seeds a day for five weeks, . . . 

their total cholesterol went down by 5% and their levels of harmful LDL cholesterol went down by 10%. These levels did not change at all in a group of women given a placebo powder. The women in the sesame group also had more vitamin E in their blood and slower oxidation of LDL cholesterol, an important factor in preventing heart disease.

• Journal of Nutrition (2006;136:1270-5)