FUEL\NUTRITION & DIETS\Cholesterol-busting diet allows for Big Mac attacks.

Byline: Jacqueline Stenson Medical Tribune News Service

You may be able to have your Big Mac and lower your cholesterol, too.

In a new study, people with high cholesterol who ate five meals a week at McDonald's still were able to lower their cholesterol within two months.

In the study of 89 people, half were put on the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Step I Diet to lower their cholesterol, while the others were put on a modified version of the same diet, which allowed for the regular consumption of fast-food meals.

The modified diet was based on a "fat-balancing principle" - one high-fat meal is balanced with lower-fat meals for the rest of the day.

For instance, a person could eat a lunch consisting of a cheeseburger and a small order of french fries, totaling 25.8 fat grams. But for breakfast and dinner, he would have to choose lower-fat foods so that his total daily intake of fat did not exceed 30 percent of daily calories.

After two months, those on the NCEP diet lowered their total cholesterol by 8 percent and their LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, by 10 percent. Those on the modified diet also saw benefits: Their total cholesterol dropped 3 percent and their LDL cholesterol dropped 4 percent, according to the study, published in the Feb. 12 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Avoiding certain foods can be difficult, given the ubiquitous nature of fast-food restaurants in the American culture, said the researchers, led by Dr. Michael H. Davidson, medical director of the Chicago Center for Clinical Research. Twenty-two percent of Americans frequent convenience stores and fast-food restaurants an average of five or more times per week, they noted.

In addition, many people fail to adhere to diets that require them to substantially change their eating habits, so dietary goals might be better achieved with a diet that permits more familiar foods, such as quick-service meals, the researchers said.

"We feel it makes common sense that people are going to adhere to a diet they like," Davidson said.

Connie Diekman, a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant in St. Louis and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, said the new study shows that "you can enjoy your favorite foods; a healthy diet isn't that hard to stick to."

No foods are forbidden, Diekman said. "It's how often, how much and how it fits in."

But Dr. James Cleeman, coordinator of the National Cholesterol Education Program at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Md., pointed out that the difference between the cholesterol-lowering power of the two diets in the new study is "important."

While the study results are good news for people who want to lower their cholesterol but must have high-fat foods in their diet, people should realize that they will lower their cholesterol more with a lower-fat diet, Cleeman said.