Nutritionists once believed that eating cholesterol-rich foods led directly to poor heart health. According to Dr. Mehmet Oz, co-author of "You: The Owner's Manual," doctors now understand that dietary cholesterol is not the same as the cholesterol in your blood. They also understand that different kinds of cholesterol have different effects on the body. When it comes to heart health, your menu choices must be more complex than simply avoiding fats.
HDL and LDL
The Harvard School of Public Health reports two kinds of cholesterol that directly affect cardiovascular health. LDL cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, clogs up and even blocks arteries. This forces your heart to pump harder to move blood, eventually leading to coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke. HDL cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein, cleans the bloodstream of LDLs and other contaminants. It actually improves your heart health. A menu designed to "lower cholesterol" does so by reducing LDLs while increasing HDL levels.
LDL Foods
According to Walter Willett's "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy," foods containing saturated fats and trans fats are the greatest culprits when it comes to increasing your LDL count. A menu intended to reduce bad cholesterol would limit or eliminate foods rich in these fats. Some examples of bad-fat foods include fatty meats, processed meats, poultry with skin on, egg yolks, butter, lard, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, high-fat dairy products and some breads or baked goods. When in doubt, check the nutrition label. If it reports high amounts of saturated and trans fats, give it a pass.
HDL Foods
Willett reports that foods rich in poly- and mono-unsaturated fats stimulate the body to produce more of the healthy HDL cholesterol. A steady, but not excessive, supply of these foods will make a menu as heart-friendly as avoiding the bad-fat foods. Some examples of good cholesterol foods include extra virgin olive oil, avocados, nuts, dark chocolate, berries and fish. If the nutrition label shows that the majority of fat in a menu item comes from these healthy fats, it's a safe addition to the meal.
Dietary Fiber
Dietary fiber helps the body clean LDL cholesterol out of the system, reports MayoClinic.com. As with HDLs, a menu to reduce LDLs should include plenty of dietary fiber. You'll find dietary fiber information on the nutrition label under the carbohydrate profile, generally about two-thirds of the way down the label. Some examples of high-fiber foods include oatmeal, whole-grain breads and cereals and most vegetables.
Two Simple Steps
Oz recommends two easy steps you can take to point your weekly menu toward the heart-healthy. Eat a bowl of whole-grain cereal, such as oatmeal or Cheerios, in the morning with skim milk instead of 2 percent or whole. For the rest of the day, replace any lard or shortening you have with liquid vegetable oils. MayoClinic.com reports that extra virgin olive oil is the best cooking oil choice.
References
- "You: The Owner's Manual;" Mehmet Oz et al; 2005
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy;" Walter Willett MD, et al; 2006
- Mayo Clinic: Cholesterol: Top 5 Foods to Lower Your Numbers
- Harvard School of Public Health: Fats and Cholesterol
