A spice that’s commonly found in many dishes could help lower your risk of some heart condition
A delicious spice that’s popular to use in curries and stews could help lower your risk of some serious health conditions. According to various studies, coriander seeds could aid in lowering cholesterol and blood pressure levels.
This also reduces your risk of associated issues such as heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. One study, published in Current Cardiology Reviews, showed the seeds could lower low-density lipoproteins (LDL) – also known as “bad” cholesterol – and fats called triglycerides.
It said: “The seeds of coriander have a remarkable hypolipidemic action. The levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides decreased significantly in the tissues of the animals of the experimental group which received coriander seeds.
“The level of LDL and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased while that of high density-lipoprotein (‘good’) cholesterol increased in the experimental group compared to the control group.”
Another trial, published in the Journal of Environmental Biology in 2008, involved feeding coriander seeds to rats. This found that the rats who ate the seeds had lower levels of “bad” cholesterol, known as low-density lipoprotein, but higher levels of “good” cholesterol – high-density lipoprotein.
The paper said: “The level of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol decreased while that of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol increased in the experimental group compared to the control group.”
Further to this, in 2009 a report published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology concluded the seeds – or fruit – of the herb could successfully lower blood pressure – or hypertension.
The paper says: “These results indicate that coriander fruit exhibits gut stimulatory, inhibitory and hypotensive effects mediating possibly through cholinergic, Ca(2+) antagonist and the combination of these mechanisms respectively.
“Diuretic activity adds value to its use in hypertension.” As a general rule, a healthy level of total cholesterol in the blood is five or less millimoles per litre (mmol/l).
More specifically a healthy level of high-density lipoprotein is one or more mmol/l. And you should have four or less mmol/l of low-density lipoprotein.
To find out if your cholesterol levels are high your doctor will need to take a blood test. If you are concerned about your blood pressure you should test it either with a home kit or ask a pharmacist or GP to take your reading.
Coriander seeds can be used in cooking whole or you can buy them ground as a powder form. The plant of the coriander is also popularly used as a herb.