Do You Have High Cholesterol? And if not - maybe you're at risk for high cholesterol? About 30% of the cholesterol in the body is derived from the diet. Therefore, a dietary change and a change in the number of habits can in many cases help reduce cholesterol levels, maintain normal body weight, and a healthy lifestyle. To the extent of preventing the need for medication or reducing their doses and reducing their side effects.
How to lower cholesterol through dietary changes?
- Eating vegetables, fruits, and legumes, which contain nutritional components such as phytosterol and/or dietary fiber.
- Choosing Good Fats, Including Monounsaturated Oils, Minimal Saturated Fat Consumption, and Trans Fat Avoidance
- Diversification of protein-containing foods to reduce animal consumption of saturated fat by choosing dairy and low-fat meat, and eating fish and legumes
Want to read precise guidelines on what to eat and what to avoid? Read more in an article on nutrition for lowering cholesterol.
Why is it important to pay attention to when going shopping?
To lower cholesterol, the first step is to reduce the amount of cholesterol-rich foods or that can cause high cholesterol, already while shopping. Therefore, you should make a shopping list and go shopping when you are seventy, so as not to be tempted.
Meat and fish products: It is best to buy chicken and turkey meat without skin, lean beef, low-fat pastrami, tuna, herring, salmon, mackerel, sole, cod, halibut, sardines, trout, ethos, bass, and shine.
These products contain less saturated fats and cholesterol. The fish are also rich in omega 3 fatty acids and are recommended to eat at least 3-2 times a week.
Cereals and legumes: Whole grains and legumes are a source of dietary fiber. Recommended are: Chickpeas, Peas, Lentils, Beans, Paul, Soybeans Whole Wheat or Whole Wheat Bread, Durum or Whole Wheat Pasta, Whole Rice, Quinoa, Buckwheat, Oatmeal, Burgundy, Grits, Wheat Bran and Enriched Breakfast In dietary fiber
Dairy Products: Better than cholesterol-rich and saturated fat, like milk up to 3% fat, cheeses up to 5% fat, saturation, white, dairy and yogurt up to 3% fat, ice cream up to 2% fat, diet delicacies, yellow and melted cheeses up to 9 %.
Fruits and Vegetables: Fresh, cooked, dried or frozen, all types of vegetables and fruits are recommended. The recommendation is to avoid only coconut containing saturated fat and therefore can cause high cholesterol ..
Recommended fats and oils: Olive and canola oils are rich in non-saturated fat, as are tahini, whole sesame seeds, avocados, nuts, almonds, kernels, peanuts, peanut butter.
How do you know which products will help lower high cholesterol?
Food products in Israel are marked with a nutritional label containing all the necessary information. Therefore, even if the product is labeled “without cholesterol”, it is worth checking what the product contains. The food components are listed in the product in descending order, which means that the first component, its largest, is the largest. The nutritional notation refers to the amount of nutrients, like fat, in 100 grams of a food product. so:
- Low-fat foods will contain no more than 2 grams of fat per 100 grams of the food.
- Low cholesterol foods will contain no more than 20 mg of cholesterol per 100 grams of the food.
- Cholesterol-free foods will contain no more than 1 mg of cholesterol in 100 grams of the food.
- Fat-reduced foods will only contain 2/3 of the fat in a regular product.
How do you increase the amount of dietary fiber in the menu?
- Prefer cereals containing oats or other whole grains rich in dietary fiber.
- Add fresh or dried fruit to breakfast cereals and ground flax.
- Add legumes to soups and stews.
- Replace white flour content in whole or in part with oatmeal or whole wheat flour.
- Eat Whole Fruit and No Fruit Juice - The whole fruit contains much more dietary fiber than fruit juice.
What will help lower cholesterol when eating out?
- It is recommended to order familiar foods rather than stews that do not know their contents.
- You should give up fried, creamed, rich sauces, or coated foods.
- When you are uncertain about what to order, allow yourself to ask, consult, and seek to reduce or withdraw the portion of your choice of various components, if possible.
- It's best to skip the last course or opt for a fruit salad with or without an ice cream ball.
- Try not to get hungry for a restaurant or event, to eat to the extent without exaggerating.
And when you cook at home?
To lower cholesterol in-home cooking, it is desirable and possible to convert the fat content in the recipe to reduce the amount of saturated fat, cholesterol or trans fat:
- Instead of margarine or butter, use vegetable oil, yogurt or apple cider.
- Mayonnaise and cream can be substituted for yogurt.
- Fat cheeses can be replaced with fat-reduced cheeses.
- Fruits and Vegetables - It is best not to peel to enrich the meal with dietary fiber.
- In egg recipes, you can only use some eggs in protein.
Exercise is essential to lower high cholesterol
Although dietary change is important, in order to lower high cholesterol, exercise is also recommended. 30 minutes of exercise a day helps raise good cholesterol and reduce bad cholesterol, and of course, helps lose weight.
If you have a history of heart disease or are aware that you are at risk of developing high levels of cholesterol: the recommendation is that you exercise - and most importantly, reduce abdominal fat.
Also, keep in mind that exercising strengthens the heart muscle, improves blood flow, improves blood pressure, and helps control sugar levels and body weight.
