Low Cholesterol Diet Tips That Are Easy but Essential for EveryoneThere is a lot of confusion out there about cholesterol, and what a low cholesterol diet might entail. It is a fact that over a million people a year suffer from heart attacks, and a half million die from heart disease each year in the US. If you or a loved one have a family history of heart disease or diabetes; smoke; are more than a few pounds overweight; are female over 55; are a male over 45; have high blood pressure; or if you do not get a significant amount of exercise on a regular basis, you're at risk for heart disease due to excess cholesterol. This page is for you. Let's talk first a little about how to define cholesterol, then what the numbers mean, and finally, what simple changes we can make in our eating habits so that we don't even think about the fact that we're on a low cholesterol diet. As you probably know by now, there are two kinds of cholesterol- HDL, or good cholesterol, and LDL, or bad cholesterol. High-density-lipoproteins, the good stuff, helps rid the body of the bad stuff by attaching to it and flushing it out . This is why your HDL count must be high to be effective. The low-density-lipoproteins are like sludge that sticks to the walls of your arteries and slows down the flow of blood and oxygen to the vital organs. If your brain doesn't get enough, you have a stroke. If your heart doesn't get enough blood and oxygen, you have a heart attack. This is why we are constantly hearing that we should get our bad cholesterol numbers down. Low-density-lipoproteins accumulate mostly due to animal fats we ingest. More on that later. What Do All Those Numbers Mean?How do the numbers affect your low cholesterol diet? While there is some debate about exact numbers, here are the basics:HDL should be above 60. Below 40 is dangerous. Low Cholesterol Diet TipsThe good news is that most cholesterol problems are remediable through diet and exercise. If you've been on our site before, you know that we like to talk about eating whole foods. It is my contention that most of our health problems have to do with the quality of the food we eat. If you haven't been here before, here's a link to our home page. Go and have a look at our basic philosophy and drop us a line, we'd love to hear from you. Back to the low cholesterol diet.The first thing to be aware of is what kind of food you're eating. The bad cholesterol that is inside us comes mostly from foods we enjoy because they're full of sugar, fat, salt, and just plain fun. Start with the easy things like cutting back on red meat, and eating only the leanest of that. Then reduce your dairy intake. If you must have dairy, go strictly to non-fat products like fat free milk and yogurt. It seems strange at first, but as your health improves, and your bad ldl cholesterol levels go down, you'll find that the change in taste is less important than the improvement in your health. Eat a handful of walnuts or cashews every day. Remember, while they're high in calories, they're also full of the good fat that lifts your good cholesterol and helps lower the bad. Have a glass of real fruit juice every day. Be sure that it has no added sugar or high fructose corn syrup. If you can afford it, buy yourself a juicer and make your own fruit juice from fresh or frozen fruit. At least that way you'll know exactly what's in it. Be sure and check out our page on
breakfast. Another thing to work on is the way we prepare our foods. By now, everyone knows that olive oil is the best oil for cooking. I've even started using it to pop corn with. (Yes, thanks to my Grandpa Bryant, who taught me to cook my popcorn the old-fashioned way on the stove. It's always been the best, and I still enjoy the process.) The olive oil actually gives the popcorn a crisp, clean flavor. I've even stopped using salt on it, and while it takes some getting used to, it's still delicious. Reducing salt intake is highly important for a low cholesterol diet. Nearly half our salt is sodium, and we get way too much in our diets. High sodium intake is a leading cause of high blood pressure. Also, many sodas and prepared foods contain excessive amounts of sodium for flavor and preservative benfits, so cut back or cut them out completely. When you're cooking, be sure to use the right kind of oils, that is, those that are liquid at room temperature. If they're solid, that means they've been hydrogenated, and are the worst thing for your low cholesterol diet. Much of our bad cholesterol comes from things we eat containing cholesterol that comes from animals, and this often includes the oil we cook with. Reducing these two items will significantly lower your cholesterol. Eat as much salmon, trout, tuna, and other cold water fish as you can, making sure to broil, steam or grill it whenever possible. Replace some of your meats with lima or kidney beans, which are high in protein and fiber. A little variety in your diet is good! Certainly, the easiest thing you can do to lower your risk of heart disease and improve the benefits of your low cholesterol diet is to reduce the size of your portions consistently.
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