Our body does need cholesterol
to make bile salts, hormones and vitamin D. It is mainly
produced by our liver. Cholesterol will build up on the
artery walls when the level of cholesterol in the blood
is too high. There are 2 main types of blood
cholesterol: LDL (the "Bad" cholesterol) and HDL (the
"Good" cholesterol).
High amounts of the bad LDL will deposit cholesterol on
the artery walls forming plaques. More and more plaques
will narrow the arteries lumen and may eventually block
blood flow. Therefore LDL is considered the "Bad"
cholesterol. Saturated fats and trans fatty acids are
the most important factors that raise blood cholesterol,
not dietary cholesterol! Monounsaturated fats and
polyunsaturated fats found in nuts and fish for
instance, can lower the LDL level. In addition, soluble
fiber found in fruits, oats, barley and legumes can also
lower LDL.
The good HDL, on the other hand, takes excess
cholesterol away and carries it back to the liver to be
excreted. It can also remove some of the cholesterol
already attached to the artery walls. Therefore HDL is
considered the "Good" cholesterol as high levels of HDL
in the blood can decrease the risk of heart disease.
Physical activity can also raise HDL level.
If you want to lower your
cholesterol levels, following a cholesterol lowering
diet may be able to help you a lot. It has been known
for a long time now that the food a person eats or is
accustomed to eating daily can have a direct relation in
the body's cholesterol levels.
And it is important for people to lower their
cholesterol levels because cholesterol has been
associated with the development of coronary heart
disease. The higher the level of blood cholesterol
levels in an individual, the more likely it is that he
will be developing heart disease later on. Aside from
that high cholesterol levels can also put a person at
risk of suffering from a stroke or a heart attack.
Aside from using drugs to lower cholesterol levels,
following a cholesterol lowering diet is the next best
thing to keep your cholesterol levels down. Eating more
vegetables, soy products and other low cholesterol foods
can be just as effective at reducing blood cholesterol
as medication. A study has been able to show that a
vegetarian diet can lower cholesterol by as much as
one-third in just a month.
The best cholesterol lowering diet that you can follow
usually includes a hearty serving of vegetables such as
broccoli and red peppers. Soymilk and soy sausages, oat
bran cereal and bread as well as plenty of fruits and
nuts make up a complete low cholesterol diet. Soy
protein, nuts, and fiber rich food such as oats and
barley can effectively cut cholesterol levels by up to
seven percent.
A cholesterol lowering diet also requires you to
minimize your intake of saturated fat by seven percent
and other fat substances by 25-35 percent. It has been
discovered that the best diet for avoiding coronary
heart disease includes consuming non-hydrogenated
(unprocessed) fats rather than the hydrogenated variety.
Increased consumption of omega-3 fats from fish, fish
oil or plant sources such as flaxseeds is the suggested
fat intake in a low cholesterol diet. With a low
cholesterol diet, one should also limit daily sodium
intake somewhere in the level of 2400 milligrams daily.
A typical day on the cholesterol lowering diet would
include a hearty breakfast of soymilk, oat bran cereal
with chopped fruit and almonds, oatmeal bread,
vegetable-based margarine and jam. A typical low
cholesterol lunch would comprise of soy cold cuts, oat
bran bread, bean soup and a dessert of fruit. For
dinner, stir-fry vegetables, tofu, fruit and almonds
would be the usual low cholesterol diet fare. Following
this type of low cholesterol diet religiously for long
periods, it is possible for one's cholesterol level to
drop by as much as 29 percent in just a month.
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