By Suzana Lower Your High Cholesterol Through Diet Management and Make High Cholesterol a Thing of the Past
Honestly, one of the best ways to lower your high cholesterol is through diet management. When one mentions cholesterol these days it almost always is frowned upon but in fact maintaining a health cholesterol level is an essential part of good health. Without it our cells would literally die and we would all go the way of the Dodo Bird. But high cholesterol is a different story, and high cholesterol increases the risk of a myriad of serious diseases, including heart attack, stroke, and atherosclerosis.
However not all types of cholesterol increase the risk of serious illness like LDL (bad cholesterol) does. In fact a higher than average blood cholesterol reading of HDL (good cholesterol) decreases the risk. Ideally the level of total cholesterol, which includes both good and bad cholesterol should be around, or just below, 200 mg/dl to be considered health. Anyone having a blood cholesterol reading over 250 should consider taking aggressive action to lower your high cholesterol though diet management.
The steps necessary to lower your high cholesterol through diet are fairly straightforward. You should consume no more than 35 percent of your calories each day from fat. The type of fat consumed is also important, with saturated fat being a major determining factor in the world of high cholesterol. For this reason total saturated fat consumption each day should not exceed 10 percent.
You are probably thinking you don’t consume much saturated fat anyway. I am right? Do you consume more than 8 ounces of meat a day; eat a lot of eggs; full dairy products such as cheese, milk, eggs, and yogurt; eat coconuts or use coconut oil for cooking, have an affinity for macadamia nuts; love to eat fried foods; or have a particular fondness for duck, goose, or liver? If you answered yes to any of these questions chances are you have identified the root cause or causes of your high cholesterol problem. All of the above culinary delights must be either eliminated altogether, eaten in small amounts, or modified in such as way that the cholesterol/saturated fat is removed. An example would be to eat 4 egg whites instead of 2 eggs. The yolk contains all the cholesterol, so by doing away with it you now have taken a food that is known to contribute to high cholesterol and turn it into one that could actually lower cholesterol readings.
If you are looking for effective ways to lower your high cholesterol thought diet look no further than fruits, vegetables, and grains; especially ones high containing soluble fiber. This very beneficial list includes oat bran, oat meal, apples, beans, blueberries, and strawberries. Soluble fiber is cholesterols worst enemy trapping it in the intestines and shipping it out through solid waste.
In summary, to lower your high cholesterol through diet is a fairly straightforward equation for most, consisting of dramatically lowering saturated fat intake and increasing the consumption of cholesterol reducing soluble fiber. We could also throw in eating fatty cold water baked fish twice a week and using olive oil instead of high fat salad dressings. Additionally, some may feel they need a little bit of extra help but are hesitant to go down the road of prescription medications. For these individuals natural cholesterol reducing remedies have proven to be an safe and effective addition to a comprehensive plan to lower your high cholesterol through diet. I am here to tell you that by making smart choices and changing those almost instinctively unhealthy eating habits you can put your high cholesterol in the rear view mirror, on your way to normalizing those problematic cholesterol levels once and for all.