Cholesterol

Have you been diagnosed with high cholesterol? Is lowering your cholesterol a goal? The first step is to find out: what is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance made in the liver and found in certain foods, such as food from animals, like dairy products (whole milk), eggs and meat.

The body needs some cholesterol in order to function properly. Its cell walls, or membranes, need cholesterol in order to produce hormones, vitamin D and the bile acids that help to digest fat. But, the body needs only a small amount of cholesterol to meet its needs. When too much is present health problems such as coronary heart disease may develop.

High cholesterol

It should not come as a big surprise that the foods we love are very high in cholesterol. However, given that there is good and bad cholesterol, it is important to distinguish between the two. So as HDL is good and LDL is bad, it is very important to avoid or at least try to eat foods that are low in LDL cholesterol because too much can cause heart disease.

If you are reading this article, you have probably been told by your doctor or have personally decided to reduce your cholesterol levels. So, what are the high cholesterol foods that you should omit from your diet?

Firstly, there are two main ingredients that will raise your cholesterol levels:

Saturated fat - found in most animal products

LDL cholesterol - found in most animal products

Some sources of fat and bad cholesterol that are considered high cholesterol foods can include:

Meats

Nuts

Dairy foods

However, not all of them are bad. This is why it is important to monitor the saturated fat content in foods because the more there is, the harder the liver has to work to detoxify the body. Also, subsequent LDL cholesterol from bad fats will create plaque inside arteries, veins, and capillaries which can result in serious, if not deadly, cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks.

The following is a list of high cholesterol foods. They are listed according to food type, serving size, and cholesterol levels. If at all possible, try to eat something else, or choose lower fat versions of them:

Food Serving Size Cholesterol Level

Beef, kidney 3.5oz 375 mg

Beef, liver 3.5oz 300 mg

Beefsteak 3.5oz 70 mg

Boiled egg 1 225 mg

Butter 3.5oz 250 mg

Cheddar cheese 1oz 19 mg

Chicken 3.5oz 60 mg

Cream cheese 1oz 27 mgIce Cream 3.5oz 45 mg

Lamb 3.5oz 70 mg

Sponge cake 3.5oz 260 mg

Dietary Changes

This section will give you information on how to reduce cholesterol by changing your diet.

Many people suffer with high cholesterol because of the type of diet they follow. Eating foods which are high in saturated fat can cause high cholesterol. Our bodies need a certain amount of fat to function properly but we need to be careful what kind of fat we consume. The saturated fats that are found in meat products, whole fat milk, cheese and butter are the bad fats, as are trans fats or hydrogenated fats which are found in commercially produced cakes, cookies, pastries, fast food, coconut oil and palm oil.

It is good to know how to reduce cholesterol by simply changing the type of fat that you consume. Cut down on foods containing saturated fat or replace them with foods containing good fats like mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Mono-unsaturated fats are found in oils like rapeseed oil and olive oil and some nuts. Polyunsaturated fats are found in oily fish such as salmon, sardines, herrings and mackerel, and also some spreads. These types of fats are actually good for our hearts and cholesterol levels.

How to reduce cholesterol by changing your habits:-

- Stop using butter on your bread or in baking and instead use polyunsaturated spreads or olive oil.

- Fry foods with olive oil or avoid frying and grill, microwave or steam foods.- Trim fat off meat or use lean cuts.

- Replace meat with soya products or cook more vegetarian meals.

- Buy low fat versions of your normal foods.

- Replace snacks like cakes and cookies with fruit and vegetable based snacks.

- Eat oily fish two or three times a week.

It is important to have no more than 200mg or less of cholesterol per day. The rest of any healthy diet should include fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes (peas, beans, lentils, etc.), whole grains and either 2% or no-fat milk. The American Heart Association recommends a calorie controlled version of the 'Mediterranean Diet'. This can be found in pyramid for through their website.

lower cholesterol

Achieving lower cholesterol is one of the best ways to protect yourself from heart attack and stroke. The more natural and cost effective way to lower cholesterol is to eat foods low in cholesterol. Using herbs to lower cholesterol is safe and effective.

One of the best things that you can to do lower cholesterol is to quit smoking and decrease the amount of fatty foods in your diet. For most people, the best way to lower cholesterol is to reduce their intake of saturated fats and to increase physical activity.

The Hypercet Blood Pressure Formula is a proprietary blend of five essential elements for healthy blood pressure. The Hypercet Cholesterol Formula is designed to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels and to assist normal body functions for optimum health. "Often the only treatment needed to lower cholesterol is thyroid medication.

 Coronary Heart Disease

When too much cholesterol is present, plaque (a thick, hard deposit) may form in the body's arteries narrowing the space for blood to flow to the heart. Over time, this buildup causes atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) which can lead to heart disease.

When not enough oxygen-carrying blood reaches the heart chest pain -- called angina -- can result. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by total blockage of a coronary artery, the result is a heart attack. This is usually due to a sudden closure from a blood clot forming on top of a previous narrowing.

 Cholesterol Levels

A variety of factors can affect your cholesterol levels. They include:

• Diet Saturated fat and cholesterol in the food you eat increase cholesterol levels. Try to reduce the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet.
• Weight. In addition to being a risk factor for heart disease, being overweight can also increase your cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower your LDL and total cholesterol levels, as well as increase HDL cholesterol.
• Exercise Regular exercise can lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol. You should try to be physically active for 30 minutes on most days.
• Age and Gender. As we get older, cholesterol levels rise. Before menopause, women tend to have lower total cholesterol levels than men of the same age. After menopause, however, women's LDL levels tend to rise.
• Diabetes.  Poorly controlled diabetes increases cholesterol levels.  With impovements in control, cholesterol levels can fall.
• Heredity. Your genes partly determine how much cholesterol your body makes. High blood cholesterol can run in families.
• Other causes. Certain medications and medical conditions can cause high cholesterol.

Cholesterol diet

If you want to lower your cholesterol levels, following an ideal 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 low cholesterol 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 low cholesterol 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 low cholesterol 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.