Cholesterol Diet

Cholesterol is a waxy substance that comes from two sources: your body and food. Your body, and especially your liver, makes all the cholesterol you need and circulates it through the blood. But cholesterol is also found in foods from animal sources, such as meat, poultry and full-fat dairy products. Your liver produces more cholesterol when you eat a diet high in saturated and trans fats.

Excess cholesterol can form plaque between layers of artery walls, making it harder for your heart to circulate blood. Plaque can break open and cause blood clots. If a clot blocks an artery that feeds the brain, it causes a stroke. If it blocks an artery that feeds the heart, it causes a heart attack.

The two types of lipoproteins that carry cholesterol to and from cells are low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, and high-density lipoprotein, or HDL. LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol, along with one fifth of your triglyceride level, make up your total cholesterol count, which can be determined through a blood test.

LDL (Bad) Cholesterol
LDL cholesterol is considered the “bad” cholesterol because it contributes to plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can clog arteries and make them less flexible.

HDL (Good) Cholesterol
HDL cholesterol is considered “good” cholesterol because it helps remove LDL cholesterol from the arteries. A healthy level of HDL cholesterol may also protect against heart attack and stroke, while low levels of HDL cholesterol have been shown to increase the risk of heart disease.

Triglycerides
Triglycerides are another type of fat, and they’re used to store excess energy from your diet. High levels of triglycerides in the blood are associated with atherosclerosis. Elevated triglycerides can be caused by overweight and obesity, physical inactivity, cigarette smoking, excess alcohol consumption and a diet very high in carbohydrates.

People with high triglycerides often have a high total cholesterol level, including a high LDL cholesterol (bad) level and a low HDL cholesterol (good) level. Many people with heart disease or diabetes also have high triglyceride levels.

1..Limit your intake of foods full of saturated fats, trans fats, and dietary cholesterol – Foods with a lot of saturated fat include butter, fatty flesh like red meat, full-fat and low-fat dairy products, palm oil, and coconut oil. If you see partially hydrogenated fat in the Ingredient List of a food label, that food has trans fats. Top sources of dietary cholesterol include egg yolks, organ meats, and shellfish. One type of fat – omega-3 fatty acids – are to protect against heart disease. Good sources are cold-water fish like salmon, halibut and sardines.

To help you translate the above guidelines into daily food planning, here are key guidelines: Select non fat dairy foods only, 2 servings daily. Limit your intake of meat, poultry, and fish to no more than 3.5 to 4 ounces per day. From the choices below, which are listed from best to poor, try to select almost always from the top.

Best Choice: Omega-3-rich fish, such as salmon, sardines and trout. Choose at least 2 times weekly. If you’re using canned fish, such as canned sardines, or tuna, select very-low-sodium or no-salt-added varieties. Including Flaxseed, chia seed, walnuts, pecans, etc.

Satisfactory Choices: Most other fish including shrimp, crawfish), Poultry (white meat, skinless) optimally
free-range and grass-fed

Poor Choice: Red meat (pork, lamb, veal, goat). For all red meat choices, select cuts that are under 30% fat. Red meats are the least desirable choice because they not only tend to have the highest proportion of saturated fats, they are also higher in heme iron, which likely raises the risk of type 2 diabetes and colon-rectal cancer. Drinking whole milk, full fat yogurt, butter, ghee, refined oil, etc.

2. Eat a lot more fiber-rich foods – Foods naturally rich in soluble fiber have proven particularly good at lowering cholesterol. Excellent sources include oats, oat bran, barley, peas, yams, sweet potatoes and other potatoes, as well as legumes or beans, such as pinto beans, black beans, garbanzo beans (white channe/Black channe), and peas. Vegetables rich in soluble fiber include carrots, Brussels sprouts, beets, okra, and eggplant. Good fruit sources are berries, passion fruit, oranges, black grapes, pears, apricots, nectar and apples.

3. Choose protein-rich plant foods – Common legumes include lentils, peas, and beans, such as pinto beans, red beans, white beans, and soybeans. They’re full of nutritional riches and are a very healthy, protein-packed alternative to meat. Legumes help lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, blood sugar, and insulin levels, and may even lower cancer risk. Nuts and seeds have been proven to modestly lower LDL cholesterol levels. To avoid blood-pressure-raising salt, choose raw or dryroasted, unsalted varieties. To avoid gaining weight, don’t eat more than 1 ounce daily since nuts and seeds are dense with calories (averaging about 175 calories per ounce).

4. Lose as much excess weight as possible – Losing excess weight is beneficial for all sorts of reasons, from improving your cholesterol profile to preventing diseases epidemic in industrialized societies, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, gout, and many types of cancer. Do keep in mind that it’s important to limit fat intake, even so-called “good” fats like olive oil, because any fat is dense with calories, which means heavy consumption can easily lead to a heavy body. NOTE: The above steps contain the key food groups that have cholesterol-lowering properties.

FOOD TO AVOID FOOD TO EAT

FOOD TO EAT