If your doctor has told you that your cholesterol levels are too
high; this article is for you... because you are not healthy and are in a
serious health risk situation.
Whether they've put you on a medication to help you lower cholesterol, or simply told you to consume less cholesterol-containing foods... No matter what you're doing to manage your high cholesterol, it'll help if you clearly understand what's going on inside your body so that you can work your way back to good health.
The fact of the matter is that "high cholesterol" is a pretty complex and potentially dangerous situation.
You see your body makes about 80% of its cholesterol; and the other 20% comes from your diet, more specifically the foods you choose to eat. Dietary cholesterol only enters the body from those foods we eat that are of animal origin; such as meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products.
All individuals (especially people with high cholesterol levels) should make a point of limiting their intake of dietary cholesterol to less than 300 milligrams a day. But as you'll soon learn, doing that and limiting your dietary cholesterol intake is only a small part of the entire cholesterol-lowering picture
Another major factor to consider is what types of fats you're eating; because that issue can have a much larger effect on your cholesterol levels.
Back in the 90's, after the surge in fad diets based upon the Low-Fat and Fat Free craze swept the nation; many people fell into that group who believe (and many still believe) that any & all fats are bad for you. If you subscribed to that theory, it will undoubtedly come as quite a surprise to many that truth of the matter is that certain types of fat are very valuable and important to maintain your good health.
Basically it all boils down to the fact that some kinds of fat are good for you, while others are clearly not.
Whenever you're making decisions about food choices, the type of fats you choose to consume are just as (if not more) important than the choices you make regarding the amount of cholesterol the food contains.
Here's a Guide to help you better understand the difference...
Heart-healthy Fats you'll want in a Cholesterol-lowering Diet:
Monounsaturated Fats are the healthiest of the fats. They can actually decrease your total blood Cholesterol while maintaining your HDL (good) cholesterol.
Ideally, most of the fats in your diet should only come from this group. They include: almonds, avocados, cashews, canola oil, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, natural peanut butter, olive oil, olives, pecans, peanuts, peanut oil, pistachios, sesame oil, sesame seeds, tahini paste and humus.
Now you probably know that certain margarines (those made from oils listed above) also fall into this healthy category of fats; but you need to exercise caution when choosing one. Avoid any that list any form of "partially hydrogenated" oil on their label... because THAT is a red flag for unhealthy Trans-Fats (which are explained below).
Polyunsaturated Fats are somewhat healthy fats that decrease your total blood cholesterol by lowering your LDL (bad) cholesterol; but at the same time they also lower your HDL (good) cholesterol level as well!
Lowering your total cholesterol is great, but because these fats also lower your HDL (good) cholesterol, you should only enjoy foods containing them on occasion and in moderation. You'll find polyunsaturated fats in corn oil as well as products made with corn oil, also mayonnaise, pumpkin seeds and in sunflower seeds.
A special sub-group of polyunsaturated fats are the Omega-3 fatty acids.
These are the heart-healthy fats that are found in high-fat fish (like albacore tuna, mackerel and salmon), as well as other cold-water seafood (herring, lake trout, oysters, sardines, shellfish and shrimp). It can also come from plant sources like butternuts (white walnuts), flaxseed and flaxseed oil, hempseed, soybean oil and walnuts.
Certain margarines and most salad dressings (those made primarily of polyunsaturated or omega-3 fats) also fall into this "somewhat" healthy category.
Okay now that you've got a better understanding about which fats to include in your cholesterol-lowering diet... here are the fats that are bad for your health.
The Un-healthy Fats: Fats to avoid for a strong and healthy Heart
Saturated Fat is an unhealthy fat that increases your total cholesterol as well as your LDL (bad) cholesterol. Numerous Nutrition Experts and Cardiologists suggest that limiting your saturated fat intake is one of the most important cholesterol-lowering tips you can follow.
If you want to lower your cholesterol and remain healthy, no more than 10% of your calories should come from saturated fats... meaning about 15-25 grams a day depending on your calorie needs.
Seriously... if you want to avoid any of the health problems associated with high cholesterol (like heart attack, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage or death), you've gotta keep this number as low as possible. Make every effort to limit or better yet, avoid these sources of saturated fat: bacon, bacon grease, beef, butter, cheese, cocoa butter, coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil, cream, cream cheese, ice cream, lard, palm kernel oil, palm oil, pork, poultry, sour cream and whole milk.
Trans Fat... is the unhealthiest fat you can eat! Trans Fat not only increases your total LDL (bad) cholesterol level... It does it while lowering your HDL (good) cholesterol!
As a matter of fact, eating even a small amount of any foods that contain Trans Fats will significantly increase your risk of heart disease! And that's especially true if you already have high-risk factors like elevated cholesterol levels.
In order to reduce your risk of serious health problems, you really need to watch out for and avoid foods that contain Trans Fats as much as possible. Health Experts have yet to establish any level or indicator of what they would consider to be a safe amount of Trans Fats to consume (maybe none!)...
So, just to be safe, you should make every effort to limit your intake of Trans Fats to as close as possible to zero (0) 0 grams.
The food products that are known (by the labels on the side of the package) to contain Trans-Fats include vegetable shortenings, hard stick margarines, crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods (like potato chips), fried foods, doughnuts, pastries, baking mixes and icings, store-bought baked goods (like pies, cakes, pastries) and more... much more... basically nearly all mass-produced processed foods.
Although some fats (like Mono-unsaturated and Omega-3′s) are healthier than others (Saturated Fats & Trans Fats), it's important to remember that all fats are very high in calories. Consuming too many (even the healthy ones) can cause your body to store fat and result in major weight gain. So it's important to watch what you eat and limit your total fat intake to less than 30% of your daily caloric intake.
In other words, try to limit your Fat intake to 45 to 65 grams a day (more or less depending on your calorie needs).
Of course, there's far more to a cholesterol-lowering plan than just eating good fats and avoiding the bad ones... regular Exercise, following a healthy diet and not smoking also play important roles in order to lose weight and to keep healthy.
Whether they've put you on a medication to help you lower cholesterol, or simply told you to consume less cholesterol-containing foods... No matter what you're doing to manage your high cholesterol, it'll help if you clearly understand what's going on inside your body so that you can work your way back to good health.
The fact of the matter is that "high cholesterol" is a pretty complex and potentially dangerous situation.
You see your body makes about 80% of its cholesterol; and the other 20% comes from your diet, more specifically the foods you choose to eat. Dietary cholesterol only enters the body from those foods we eat that are of animal origin; such as meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products.
All individuals (especially people with high cholesterol levels) should make a point of limiting their intake of dietary cholesterol to less than 300 milligrams a day. But as you'll soon learn, doing that and limiting your dietary cholesterol intake is only a small part of the entire cholesterol-lowering picture
Another major factor to consider is what types of fats you're eating; because that issue can have a much larger effect on your cholesterol levels.
Back in the 90's, after the surge in fad diets based upon the Low-Fat and Fat Free craze swept the nation; many people fell into that group who believe (and many still believe) that any & all fats are bad for you. If you subscribed to that theory, it will undoubtedly come as quite a surprise to many that truth of the matter is that certain types of fat are very valuable and important to maintain your good health.
Basically it all boils down to the fact that some kinds of fat are good for you, while others are clearly not.
Whenever you're making decisions about food choices, the type of fats you choose to consume are just as (if not more) important than the choices you make regarding the amount of cholesterol the food contains.
Here's a Guide to help you better understand the difference...
Heart-healthy Fats you'll want in a Cholesterol-lowering Diet:
Monounsaturated Fats are the healthiest of the fats. They can actually decrease your total blood Cholesterol while maintaining your HDL (good) cholesterol.
Ideally, most of the fats in your diet should only come from this group. They include: almonds, avocados, cashews, canola oil, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, natural peanut butter, olive oil, olives, pecans, peanuts, peanut oil, pistachios, sesame oil, sesame seeds, tahini paste and humus.
Now you probably know that certain margarines (those made from oils listed above) also fall into this healthy category of fats; but you need to exercise caution when choosing one. Avoid any that list any form of "partially hydrogenated" oil on their label... because THAT is a red flag for unhealthy Trans-Fats (which are explained below).
Polyunsaturated Fats are somewhat healthy fats that decrease your total blood cholesterol by lowering your LDL (bad) cholesterol; but at the same time they also lower your HDL (good) cholesterol level as well!
Lowering your total cholesterol is great, but because these fats also lower your HDL (good) cholesterol, you should only enjoy foods containing them on occasion and in moderation. You'll find polyunsaturated fats in corn oil as well as products made with corn oil, also mayonnaise, pumpkin seeds and in sunflower seeds.
A special sub-group of polyunsaturated fats are the Omega-3 fatty acids.
These are the heart-healthy fats that are found in high-fat fish (like albacore tuna, mackerel and salmon), as well as other cold-water seafood (herring, lake trout, oysters, sardines, shellfish and shrimp). It can also come from plant sources like butternuts (white walnuts), flaxseed and flaxseed oil, hempseed, soybean oil and walnuts.
Certain margarines and most salad dressings (those made primarily of polyunsaturated or omega-3 fats) also fall into this "somewhat" healthy category.
Okay now that you've got a better understanding about which fats to include in your cholesterol-lowering diet... here are the fats that are bad for your health.
The Un-healthy Fats: Fats to avoid for a strong and healthy Heart
Saturated Fat is an unhealthy fat that increases your total cholesterol as well as your LDL (bad) cholesterol. Numerous Nutrition Experts and Cardiologists suggest that limiting your saturated fat intake is one of the most important cholesterol-lowering tips you can follow.
If you want to lower your cholesterol and remain healthy, no more than 10% of your calories should come from saturated fats... meaning about 15-25 grams a day depending on your calorie needs.
Seriously... if you want to avoid any of the health problems associated with high cholesterol (like heart attack, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage or death), you've gotta keep this number as low as possible. Make every effort to limit or better yet, avoid these sources of saturated fat: bacon, bacon grease, beef, butter, cheese, cocoa butter, coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil, cream, cream cheese, ice cream, lard, palm kernel oil, palm oil, pork, poultry, sour cream and whole milk.
Trans Fat... is the unhealthiest fat you can eat! Trans Fat not only increases your total LDL (bad) cholesterol level... It does it while lowering your HDL (good) cholesterol!
As a matter of fact, eating even a small amount of any foods that contain Trans Fats will significantly increase your risk of heart disease! And that's especially true if you already have high-risk factors like elevated cholesterol levels.
In order to reduce your risk of serious health problems, you really need to watch out for and avoid foods that contain Trans Fats as much as possible. Health Experts have yet to establish any level or indicator of what they would consider to be a safe amount of Trans Fats to consume (maybe none!)...
So, just to be safe, you should make every effort to limit your intake of Trans Fats to as close as possible to zero (0) 0 grams.
The food products that are known (by the labels on the side of the package) to contain Trans-Fats include vegetable shortenings, hard stick margarines, crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods (like potato chips), fried foods, doughnuts, pastries, baking mixes and icings, store-bought baked goods (like pies, cakes, pastries) and more... much more... basically nearly all mass-produced processed foods.
Although some fats (like Mono-unsaturated and Omega-3′s) are healthier than others (Saturated Fats & Trans Fats), it's important to remember that all fats are very high in calories. Consuming too many (even the healthy ones) can cause your body to store fat and result in major weight gain. So it's important to watch what you eat and limit your total fat intake to less than 30% of your daily caloric intake.
In other words, try to limit your Fat intake to 45 to 65 grams a day (more or less depending on your calorie needs).
Of course, there's far more to a cholesterol-lowering plan than just eating good fats and avoiding the bad ones... regular Exercise, following a healthy diet and not smoking also play important roles in order to lose weight and to keep healthy.
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Boomer-related issues (Anti-Aging; Diet & Nutrition; Fitness &
Exercise; Weight Loss; Travel Tips and more); go to http://www.baby-boomer-depot.com
Article Source:
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