Good Cholesterol Foods And Their Potential To Help You Reduce Cholesterol Level

Ever heard of good cholesterol foods? What are they? We know now that there is “bad cholesterol” (LDL) and “good cholesterol” (HDL). The problem is choosing the good and avoiding the bad in our daily diet. It’s not a simple matter, but let me try to explain it below..

Cholesterol itself is actually very important to human life. It’s when they are present in high levels in your bloodstream that it becomes a problem. Diseases such as stroke, heart disease and other cardiovascular related diseases are associated with high cholesterol. Specifically, high LDL and low HDL should be avoided. LDL may become hardened and forms plaque in your arteries, therefore slowing blood flow. HDL on the other hand, has the ability to take back excessive LDL back into the liver.

We don’t exactly eat HDL or LDL, it forms in the body. Some of the foods that we eat do contain cholesterol, such as eggs, dairy and animal fat. Plant oils and fats contain a cholesterol-like substance called phytosterols. They help lower blood cholesterol levels. Saturated and trans-fats contribute to high LDL, as do simple carbohydrates, such as sugar and white flour.

So, good cholesterol foods are plant foods, because they contain phytosterols. Omega3 fats, found in fish and canola oil are beneficial as well.

One good plan to control LDL level is including a lot of vegetables, fruits, whole grain foods (such as oatmeal) and fish into your daily diet. One daily bowl of oatmeal has been shown to reduce LDL levels.

When you do your cooking or baking, it’s much better to choose olive oil and canola oil instead of lard or saturated fat. Also, try to eat some nuts every day. It has been shown that eating certain nuts decreases risk of heart disease. So, these may be considered good cholesterol foods: pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, and peanuts. A daily serving of an ounce of any of these is recommended, unless you’re allergic to them, of course.

Another thing you can try is replacing your coffee or soda with green tea. Green tea has many benefits related with health, and one of them is its LDL lowering capability. If you can’t stand the original taste of green tea, don’t use processed sugar. Use honey or raw cane sugar instead.

Try taking lots of different antioxidants in your daily diet. When cholesterol in your body becomes oxidized, they form hard plaques in the arteries, which are very dangerous. Antioxidants such as green tea, vegetables and fruits help preventing this process from happening.

If you have to eat meat or poultry, make them lean cuts. When you have to take dairy products, make sure to choose reduced fat products made with skim or low-fat milk.

Making the switch from bad to good cholesterol foods may be easier than you think. You just need to make the right choices.

Tagged with: cholesterol • disease • Disease & Illness • disease and conditions • health • heart disease

Filed under: Disease & Illness

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!