Low Cholesterol, People have to eat in order to have energy to do certain things. Some are able to make three or four trips to the buffet table while others are satisfied after one round. In any case, the type of food brought to the plate could be healthy or harmful and the choice is really up to the person.
Those who love to eat red meat and other dishes that are fatty or oil are at risk of getting sick. This isn’t diarrhea but something worse which could be life threatening because of the amount of bad cholesterol that is being taken into the body.
The high levels of cholesterol in the body are happening more often now than ever before. This is because of the variety of food offered now in the grocery and in restaurants. The person can still recover from this by eating foods that are not high in saturated fats.
Is there one food product that can be called the best to lower cholesterol? The answer is no because a well balanced diet must come from all the food groups.
Instead of drinking full cream milk or mixing this with cornflakes or whole grain, it is best to use non fat milk instead. The taste is almost the same is much healthier than the regular brand bought in the supermarket.
Instead of having steak when having a cookout or picnic, this should be changed with lean meats instead. These things don’t have that much fat in the center or in the edges and taste just as good as the big slab served with mash potatoes.
The healthiest thing to have either for lunch and dinner is food that comes from the ocean. This can be fish or shellfish that is known to carry Omega 3, which is very effective in lowering the levels of cholesterol in people.
Eating a candy bar or a slice of cake doesn’t see so bad but these things are rich in fat. Those who need to fill the stomach with something should try nuts or fruits instead. These products are rich in fiber as well as have vitamins and minerals that are healthier to consume.
In each meal, the person must not forget to add some fruits in the plate. A salad works best or having a few carrots or potatoes as a side dish. There must always be a balance whenever the individual decides to have meat or fish.
Chicken is not good if this is fried. Those who want to eat it for a change can still do as long as the skin has been removed. This can also be steamed which is a healthier way of cooking it before this is served in a plate.
There are many ways to cook the food mentioned. The individual can get a cookbook or download some recipes from the Internet to be able to come up with something delicious and at the same time lower one’s cholesterol levels.
If following the instructions are hard, there are always shows on television that teach homemakers and other people the basics into cooking something fat free which is good for the diet.
It is never too late to make some lifestyle and changes in order to live a longer and healthier life.
Learning the proper diet
Cholesterol is one of the major substances that cause heart attacks, high blood cholesterol levels, and weight problems. Despite its “bad guy image,” this waxy, fat-like substances made in the body by the person’s own liver serves a number of vital functions unknown to many.
Basically, there are two types of cholesterol: the Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and the High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL). The former refers to the bad type of cholesterol that is known to clog the person’s blood vessels, thus, increasing the risk for a heart attack or a heart disease. Studies show that a diet that is high in saturated fat is a main dietary cause of a raised LDL cholesterol level.
The latter, on the other hand, is the good type of cholesterol that helps clear LDL cholesterol out of the blood stream, thus, reducing the risk for any heart illness. Researches have shown that a diet rich in fruit and vegetables along with average levels of omega-3 from fish oil greatly helps raise HDL cholesterol levels.
Although diet is the major reason for having high cholesterol levels, experts agree that factors such as genetics, lack of exercise or regular physical activity, obesity, unhealthy lifestyle such as excessive drinking and smoking, hormones, and varying high and low cholesterol levels can trigger the sudden increase of cholesterol levels in the body.
- GETTING STARTED
Indeed, cholesterol is a growing problem in the health of many people in the world. Experts say that people over 20 years of age should be more concerned about their cholesterol levels; thus, they should start doing everything they can to lower LDL cholesterol. Although it is quite hard to stick to the needed requirements and regiments to combat the growing problem, experts say that it can be controlled with the proper diet to lower cholesterol.
Studies show that a good diet to lower cholesterol can reduce a person’s risk for heart diseases while getting rid of bad fats because this diet to emphasizes on eating heart-healthy foods. But, aside from using the proper and proven low cholesterol diets available today, the most important thing is that knowing and taking in the right foods and effective cholesterol formulas to assist in lowering cholesterol levels.
Experts say that a diet to lower cholesterol includes good foods like grains—especially whole grain products and cereals—fish rich in omega3 such as salmon and tune, a variety of fruits and leafy vegetables, nuts, juices, and the like. Here are other effective means of lowering cholesterol level through diet:
- Make sure that you visit your attending physician first before trying out any low cholesterol diets so he/she could administer the proper examinations and access your general health status.
- You can lower your cholesterol levels by replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat in meat, chicken, and whole milk products.
- Refrain from eating refined carbohydrates contained by bakery products, pastas, and sugary or sugar-added foods.
- When eating out, makes sure that you ask the waiter to make serving substitutions like steamed or boiled food preparations. If possible, also pick lean meat, fish, or skinless chicken that is broiled, baked, grilled, steamed, or poached instead of being fried and ask for lots of vegetable side dishes and fresh fruit desserts.
- Cutting down on eggs, margarine, or butter out of your daily diet.
- Use natural-based oils such as vegetable, corn, and olive oils when cooking instead of the usual cooking oil.
- Load up on a lot of garlic when you’re preparing dishes because it contains substances that help lower HDL cholesterol.
- Take in high quality daily vitamin mineral supplements like Vitamin E to improve blood circulation, and Vitamin C and vitamin B3 to lower your high cholesterol levels.
SELECTING CHLESTEROL-FREE FOODS
Almost everybody knows the effects of bad cholesterol in the body. By bad cholesterol, it literally has to do with low-density lipoprotein’s molecular transport deposits that thicken in the walls of the arteries hindering the flawless passage of blood affecting the atherogenic status of the arterial walls. While few people do not fully appreciate the importance of cholesterol in the body, this non-soluble waxy substance is essential to aid in building membranes, manufacture of bile, cell walls, nerve sheaths, and produce hormones.
However, exposing the body to high cholesterol supply result to hypertensions and other cardiovascular disorders or lead to atherosclerosis, a disposition of fatty substances, and fibrosis of the inner arteries.
Certain ways to check and reduce high levels of cholesterol are *practicing good eating habits accompanied by regular exercise. *Indulging in a wrong kind of lifestyle or over indulgence enhances the rise in cholesterol levels.
Good Eating Habits include:
Pre-arranging a total cholesterol-free daily diet by creating a whole week menu with vegetable-packed recipes, accompanied by good supply of fiber-filled fruits. If you could possibly buy or produce organically produced food types from such sources as organic gardens, so much the better. Chemicals enhance the increase in cholesterol level. Carbohydrates should be of high complex standards.
Some supermarkets abound in the availability of fresh organic vegetables like lettuce. The high fiber-content of vegetables that you eat will reduce the LDL cholesterol, because these foods are very low-cholesterol-content, or non-containing at all. There are of course foods that enhance low-density lipoprotein to develop to be a total risk, and settle in the arteries during the process of the lipoprotein molecules travel to the blood stream.
If egg is included in your meals, eat more egg white, never the egg yolk if you’re already an LDC possibility-individual. Concentrate on baked foods that are made from whole wheat, and noodles made from cereals. Use unrefined sugar in your light beverages. Fully refined food preparations are processed thru certain chemicals for fine or whitening effects for marketing ends, but are in fact health hazards.
Water is the universal solvent. There is no harm in drinking more water, following the daily water requirements standard to aid in the total digestion process to balance body equilibrium in cleaning the body to improve blood circulation.
Eat more root crops than artificially made or baked foods that are prepared with certain additives, coloring, and extenders for commercial purposes.
Drink fresh fruit juices, instead of manufactured soft drinks with high sugar content and artificial colorings and additives. Practically, anyone who drinks chocolate beverage, or any chemical drinks and caffeine-filled, like strong coffee risks himself or herself to certain cholesterol levels.
Always remember that trans fats and hydrogenated fats or oils used in the baking or in food processing are even more destructive the saturated fats of some oil origin. Use in preparing your food selected palm oils, especially “olive oil.” It may be costly, but it is the safest oil to use in the kitchen for overall safety of all family members against the ill effect of too much cholesterol.
The best habit to consider is a regular check up of your cholesterol count, so as to safeguard against instant increase that might lead to unaware possible consequence of a fatal hypertension, or stroke due to unprecedented cholesterol rise.
Diet to lower Triglyceride and Cholesterol
When people undergo a blood test, there are four things that the doctor will review carefully before revealing the results to the patient. These are namely the LDL, HDL, triglyceride level and total cholesterol.
If any of these are way above the normal range, the doctor will make some recommendations before it is too late. The most common advice given is to make changes in the diet. This is because the numbers that come out can improve dramatically by changing the food being eaten.
People are well aware of what LDL and HDL is which is basically the good and bad cholesterol in the bloodstream. There isn’t that much said about a triglyceride and is often referred to just as a type of fat.
So what happens when there is too much triglyceride in the body? When a patient has too much of this in the blood, this puts the person at a greater risk of succumbing to heart disease.
The food being eaten can make this go up or down even if the individual is not allowed to eat for at least 14 hours before the checkup. The normal range should fall between 10 and 250 mgs./dl, which unfortunately a lot of people exceed.
Studies show that many patients who have high triglyceride levels also have high total cholesterol levels. It is a good thing that it is possible to kill two birds with one stone by having a dietitian prepare a simple diet plan.
The basic plan involves eating foods that are low in fat. Breakfast for example can be whole grain breads with a little touch of egg whites. The person should stop drinking coffee and replace this with unsweetened tea. Those who prefer milk should use non-fat or try some fresh juice instead.
Breakfast may have been light so the individual can have chicken without skin or the choice of lean cut meats such as flank, round, rump or sirloin served with some vegetables on the side.
Drinking bottled water is much healthier than ordering a can of diet soda because this still has certain properties that are not good for someone who is trying to cut down on cholesterol intake.
Those who want to get a quick bite as a snack can have fruit or vegetables strips. The person won’t find this in the store so getting up a little earlier in the morning or preparing this the night before is a good idea so the plastic container can be put into the bag before going to work.
Dinner must also be light because the body will soon rest and will not burn that much calories when one is sleeping. Steamed fish will do well or a little pasta. The individual can have a glass of red wine with the meal to help it go down into the belly.
The practice of this healthy habit must not only be done when eating home cooked meals. This should also be done when dining out with friends because a slight disruption in the plan can have certain consequences to someone who is trying to make some lifestyle changes.
Living a healthy life free from high levels of triglyceride and cholesterol can be achieved. It just takes a little determination and discipline to make this happen.
Eating right to lower your cholesterol
We are raising an obese society. With big-sizing everything that we eat especially in fast food chains, we are slowly clogging our arteries with unnecessary fats and cholesterol that our bodies do not actually need and cannot use.
The result is of course a society that is pestered with different kinds of cholesterol complications such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and overweight problems. In fact, one of the problems that the country is facing is the rising prevalence of people with hypertension, which can lead to a possible heart attack when not taken cared of.
So what can you do lower your cholesterol levels? The first line, perhaps the only one that is truly effective is a combination of regular exercise and proper diet. These two activities go hand in hand. Without one factor, you cannot succeed. Dieting without exercising the body will only lead to weak muscles, which will eventually weaken the body’s resistance.
It may also lead to fatigue and sore muscles because there is not enough nutrients in the body. Exercising, on the other hand, without the proper diet is useless because you will only be maintaining your usual weight.You will not be gaining of course, because you are burning whatever you need; but you will not be losing any pound either.
Besides, exercising too much will strain the muscles and might even lead to a possible heart attack because of too much strain to the heart.
So what do you have to eat in order to lower those cholesterol levels in the body and ultimately prevent the occurrence of hypertension?
Eat less oil, One of the first things that a person dieting should avoid is to eat foods that are deep-fried or those that are cooked using oil. These include potato chips, fries, fried meat, fried seafood, fried veggies and a whole lot more.
Oil, when taken into the body translates to cholesterol. What you should be eating are foods that are boiled, steamed, baked and braised. Grilled foods may also be eaten but not so much.
Eat less meat, The fats from meat contain a lot of cholesterol. If you can avoid eating meat all the frequently, better; but if you can’t stop munching those meat, just remove the fats that hang on the side. Chicken and Turkey meat is a lot healthier so if you can have a choice, opt for these kinds of meat products. Don’t forget to remove the skin though as cholesterol concentrate in white meats can be found on the skin.
Eat vegetables, Vegetables do not only contain zero cholesterol, it is also a great source of fibers that help the body in digesting the food that we take in.
As much as possible, steam the vegetables that you eat to maintain the nutrients in it and of course avoid fatty and cholesterol additives like oils.
Eat less period, Try to curb that appetite slowly by taking in less food that you normally take in. If you can lessen the number of times that you eat or of you do want snacks, eat healthy snacks like fruits.
Try to also lessen the carbohydrates that you take in, which can be found in rice, cereals and bread. If you must eat these staple opt for the healthier kind like brown rice and wheat bread.
Exercising is the Best Way
Cholesterol is something that is in every human being. This is just one of the many things that are produced by the person in order to function properly.
Unfortunately, eating food and drinking alcohol that is high in sugar, fat and oil may do more harm than good to a person. The individual will soon suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack or a stroke.
The good news is there is a way to prevent this before it happens. It will take a lot of sacrifice and hard work on the part of the individual because the body will not be able to sustain the effects because of aging.
Apart from eating less and making changes in the diet, the best way to lower cholesterol is by exercising. This will increase the heart rate and metabolism in the body allowing it to expel the harmful oils, which are detrimental to one’s health.
Those who have not exercised before should first consult with a physician to find out which is safe. Those who have a heart condition may not do something rigorous and will have to rely on something that is low impact such as walking, weight lifting or stretching.
Should the physician say the patient can participate in high impact exercises; there is running, swimming, aerobics and bicycling. The type of exercise will depend on several factors and not only medical history. This will also depend on gender, age and weight.
The doctor can make a plan then the person should relay this to the fitness instructor as to what is safe or not. From there, an exercise program can be made and all the patient has to do is follow it.
After a week or two, there will be improvements in the levels of good and bad cholesterol in the body as well as reduction in the current weight of the person.
Exercising is also considered to be the best way because the use of drugs has known to cause side effects when the person takes this.
If the individual does not have time to enroll in a gym, there are other ways to pump those muscles and increase the heart rate. For starters, men and women can go brisk walking early in the morning or before going to work.
Some offices and hospitals encourage people to walk up one or two flights of stairs instead of using the elevator to go up or down a few floors. If the company where one works in has a big parking lot, the individual can try walking a few yards more instead of taking the space near the door.
During any exercise, it is best to drink lots of water. This will prevent the body from dehydration that often leads to exhaustion. Instead of going to the fountain every few minutes, it is best to bring a water bottle.
This will save a lot of time and keep the person at pace with the group activity or the work being done on the machine.
Someone once said that health is wealth. By exercising, one will be able to lower the bad cholesterol in the body and live longer than those who choose to do nothing but are aware of the dangers of not making some lifestyle changes.