Too much of something is bad enough. This is so true with cholesterol in our body because when blood cholesterol levels increase beyond the normal limits, then you will be at risk of having a cardiovascular diseases in the near future. Having high level of cholesterol can affect the circulatory system because it can become plaques that could stay on the artery walls, thus reducing or blocking blood flow. To ensure that you will be able to maintain normal levels of cholesterol, you need to follow the lower cholesterol diet plan.
The lower cholesterol diet proposes proper management of your blood cholesterol though eating the right food choices. But, before going deeper into the guidelines linked to this specific diet plan, you should know about the two sources of cholesterol in the body. Cholesterol is naturally produced by animals and humans through the liver. In fact, the liver is capable of producing all the cholesterol needed by the body. So, the additional cholesterol can come directly from consuming animal foods. This just indicates that if you reduce dietary cholesterol and fats, your blood cholesterol will be within the healthy range.
To further educate ourselves about dietary fats, we need to know that they can be saturated or the bad fats and unsaturated or the good fats. The goal of the lower cholesterol diet is to reduce the level of blood cholesterol, so it is especially significant to limit the consumption of saturated fats which can be found in dairy products made with whole milk and meats. Some vegetable fats act like saturated ones so they should not be eaten and these include palm and coconut oils and cocoa butter.
We have talked about the bad fats; let's now turn our focus into the good or unsaturated fats. These are usually found in plants and some monounsaturated fats including peanut, olive and canola oils have been found to help in lowering down blood cholesterol.
Another important factor of the lower cholesterol diet is fiber because several experts claimed that the inclusion of fiber in the diet can help control cholesterol, especially to those with suspected or known heart ailment. So, in this diet plan, a 30-gram fiber daily is recommended and this can also help in controlling one's weight, which is another bonus.
Specifically, here are the most recommended foods if you are into a lower cholesterol diet:
The lower cholesterol diet proposes proper management of your blood cholesterol though eating the right food choices. But, before going deeper into the guidelines linked to this specific diet plan, you should know about the two sources of cholesterol in the body. Cholesterol is naturally produced by animals and humans through the liver. In fact, the liver is capable of producing all the cholesterol needed by the body. So, the additional cholesterol can come directly from consuming animal foods. This just indicates that if you reduce dietary cholesterol and fats, your blood cholesterol will be within the healthy range.
To further educate ourselves about dietary fats, we need to know that they can be saturated or the bad fats and unsaturated or the good fats. The goal of the lower cholesterol diet is to reduce the level of blood cholesterol, so it is especially significant to limit the consumption of saturated fats which can be found in dairy products made with whole milk and meats. Some vegetable fats act like saturated ones so they should not be eaten and these include palm and coconut oils and cocoa butter.
We have talked about the bad fats; let's now turn our focus into the good or unsaturated fats. These are usually found in plants and some monounsaturated fats including peanut, olive and canola oils have been found to help in lowering down blood cholesterol.
Another important factor of the lower cholesterol diet is fiber because several experts claimed that the inclusion of fiber in the diet can help control cholesterol, especially to those with suspected or known heart ailment. So, in this diet plan, a 30-gram fiber daily is recommended and this can also help in controlling one's weight, which is another bonus.
Specifically, here are the most recommended foods if you are into a lower cholesterol diet:
- Fish - This is the perfect source of omega 3 fatty acids and protein with the former being credited for lowering down the bad cholesterol and raising the good cholesterol.
- Oat - Soluble fiber is needed by our body so we should eat oat bran and oatmeal.
- Soy - It's natural that we crave for animal products because we are used to eating these so to control such cravings, select soy products instead.
- Nuts - These are good sources of phytoproteins, antioxidants and fiber so these can offer a lot of health benefits.
- Foods with plant sterols - Blocking the absorption of cholesterol is the main role of plant sterols so you should include these foods in your daily diet.
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