"Editors note Tune in as Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the signs tests and lifestyle changes that could make cardiac problems a thing of the past on The Last Heart Attack Saturday August   and  p.m. ET on CNN.    Researchers in Canada have shown that a special cholesterollowering diet works well  even with only two nutritional counseling sessions over six months.    Making dietary changes like eating oat bran for breakfast drinking soy milk instead of dairy soy burgers in place of hamburgers and fruit and nuts instead of a full lunch prompted a doubledigit drop in both total cholesterol and LDL or bad cholesterol.    The study was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.    Lead author Dr. David Jenkins Canada research chair in nutrition and metabolism at the University of Toronto and St. Michaels Hospital had previously shown the effectiveness of a cholesterollowering diet when all the meals were provided to participants.    The question one had to address was how does this play out with people in the real world Jenkins said in a telephone interview.    To put the diet to the realworld test participants received a onehour counseling session with a dietitian and an illustrated study booklet at the outset and later received a  minute follow up session.    It was just advice Jenkins said. Even so the results were dramatic.    Total cholesterol dropped from  to  while the LDL or bad cholesterol decreased from  to  according to the study.    Jenkins said participants achieved these results even though compliance to the whole grain vegetarian diet was only about .    In addition to the soy protein nuts and whole grains participants in the diet were encouraged to eat peas beans and lentils.    A control group advised to eat a vegetarian lowsaturated diet but not with the cholesterollowering foods a saw a slight dip in total cholesterol from  to  and in LDL from  to .    Both groups lost about four pounds over the six months.    The  participants in the study suffered from high cholesterol but were not on a cholesterollowering statin medication. The study was conducted from June  to February  at academic centers in Quebec City Toronto Winnipeg and Vancouver.    Follow CNNHealth on Twitter"