Cholesterol and Your Diet

by Shereen Jegtvig

Cholesterol is a waxy type of fat found in your body, and although many people think of cholesterol as a bad thing, it isn’t.  In fact, your body needs cholesterol to produce hormones, vitamin D and bile, plus cholesterol protects your nerves and is a major component in the structure of cells.  The problem occurs when your body has too much bad cholesterol (called low density lipoproteins) in your bloodstream and not enough good cholesterol (high density lipoproteins) (http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/tc/high-cholesterol-overview).  The cholesterol can stick to blood vessel walls, so having increased levels of cholesterol (especially LDL) can directly increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, increasing the liklihood of heart attacks and/or stroke.

Most of the cholesterol your body needs is made by your liver, but some of the cholesterol comes from the animal based foods you eat (foods from plants don’t have cholesterol – they have sterols that can actually lower your cholesterol – more on that later).   It would be nice if lowering the cholesterol levels in your body was as easy as just cutting out cholesterol, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.  Two other types of fats have a bigger impact on your cholesterol levels than the cholesterol you eat – saturated fats and trans fats. 

Saturated fats are found in animal products and some tropical oils like coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil.  Most trans fats are created synthetically by forcing hydrogen molecules into liquid vegetable oils in order to improve the shelf-life of the oil or to change the texture into something more solid (like stick margarine).  Eating too many of either saturated fats or trans fats will raise the cholesterol levels in your blood and increase inflammation in your blood vessel walls.

Lowering Your Cholesterol With Diet
Obviously if you have high cholesterol, you need to work with your physician to reduce your risks of cardiovascular disease which may include increased physical activity, weight loss if necessary, dietary changes and possibly medication.  The dietary components of fighting high cholesterol include avoiding the bad fats, choosing more good fats and eating lots of plant-based foods.

Eat more plants. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and legumes add phytonutrients and soluble fiber that will help keep your cholesterol levels in check and reduce inflammation.  Plant foods are generally lower in calories that can help you lose weight, which may also have a positive impact on your cholesterol.

Choosing the good fats. There are two types of fats that can help control your cholesterol levels and reduce inflammation – monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids.  Monounsaturated fats are found in olive oil, nuts and avocadoes.  Omega-3 fatty acids are produced in abundance by fish, and you’ll find plant-based omega-3 fats in walnuts, pumpkin seeds, canola oil and flax seeds.

Avoiding the bad fats. Because you’re an animal, your body will make any saturated fats it needs so you don’t need a lot of saturated fats in your diet.  Cut back on fatty red meats, especially lunch meats, sausage, bacon and other processed meats.  Choose lean meats, but only a couple of times each week.  Switch from high fat cheese and whole milk to non-fat or low-fat cheese, milk and yogurt.  Avoid deep-fried foods and any type of processed foods or baked goods made with trans fats.

When you buy groceries, you need to read food labels and use our FoodEssentials tool to sort out the foods that are low in cholesterol and saturated fat (they’ll hide in some processed foods – even ones that sound healthy).  Take a look:

Those little Soyjoy snack bars at the top of the list contain 18% of your daily limit for saturated fat – that’s a lot for something you can wolf down in three bites.   Need a healthy snack? Eat an apple and some walnuts instead.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Lower Cholesterol Through Diet
• Mexican Foods – Ready To Go
• Research: Orange Juice – What people are looking for
• Choosing Canned Meat
• The Goodness of Grapes