Cholesterol Lowering Diet Foods

We hear a lot of talk about blood cholesterol, but how much do you really know about it and how it works? Do you know how your cholesterol diet affects your life? You have probably heard that high cholesterol levels are dangerous to heart health, but some types of cholesterol are actually heart healthy.

All of this can be pretty confusing to someone who has not been properly trained or informed on the proper cholesterol diet.

When you eat a healthy, balanced diet that's low in the LDL or "bad" type of cholesterol, it helps reduce the risk factors for elevated blood pressure and obesity. Convenience foods are most often not the best kinds of foods and it can be difficult for many people to eat the diet that they should. These are generally highly processed, high fat foods that commonly contain ingredients which increase the level of bad cholesterol and should be avoided, or eaten as infrequently as possible (indulging in moderation is not hazardous for most people).

How does one even know where to begin? First, you need to understand that there are several different types of fat. These include:

• Saturated fat
• Trans fat
• Polyunsaturated fat
• Monounsaturated fat

Saturated fat is the type we see in animal meat. It raises the blood pressure and should be reduced or avoided as much as possible.

Trans fat is found in milk and often in baked goods or fast food. These fats will also raise the blood pressure and should be limited in your daily diet.

Polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats can lower the blood pressure so they are actually helpful with cholesterol. You can find these in vegetable oils, fish oils, sunflowers, peanuts, etc.

There are many ways you can work a cholesterol diet into your life. For example, you can eat less salt, drain the liquid (with the preservatives) from canned veggies and rinse them off before preparing them.

You can use low fat cheese and milk. You can also trim the fat from meats before cooking. You can use your egg without yolk and broil or grill instead of frying.

These are just a few cooking tips for a better cholesterol diet and we encourage you to discover more of your own. 

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