HDL is known as "good" cholesterol, because high levels of HDL may protect you from having a heart attack and low HDL levels may increase your risk for heart disease. HDL cholesterol may help remove excess cholesterol from your arteries and move cholesterol out of your body. Foods that hurt HDL cholesterol are foods that diminish your HDL cholesterol level and reduce your ability to remove bad cholesterols like LDL cholesterol from your body.
Trans Fat Foods
Trans fat raises your total cholesterol levels and your LDL or "bad" cholesterol, which increases your risk for coronary heart disease. Trans fat is a type of fatty acid. Vegetable oils that are "partially hydrogenated" contain trans fat. Hydrogenation is a process that changes liquid vegetable oil into solid fat to produce margarine and shortenings and produces trans fat. Trans fats are bad for your HDL cholesterol levels, because they raise your ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol by reducing HDL and increasing LDL or "bad" cholesterol. Foods like stick margarine, deep fried foods and crackers may contain trans fats. A fact sheet published by Canola Info suggests checking the ingredient list of food products for "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" or "vegetable oil shortening" to identify foods that contain trans fat. Ask the chef or restaurant management about the kinds of cooking oils that the establishment uses when you dine out.
Saturated Fat Foods
Saturated fats are bad for your HDL cholesterol, because they affect your cholesterol levels like trans fats do. Saturated fats increase your total cholesterol and reduce your HDL or "good" cholesterol levels. High levels of blood cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. According to the American Heart Association website, animal foods like meats and dairy products are primary sources of saturated fat. Baked and fried foods may contain high levels of saturated fat. Plant foods such as palm oil and coconut oil are rich sources of saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends including saturated fats in less than seven percent of your total daily calories. For example, a 2,000 calorie diet should contain 140 calories from saturated fat or less, which is approximately 16g of saturated fats.
High Cholesterol Foods
High cholesterol foods may adversely affect your HDL cholesterol levels. According to the Healthline website, eating a diet that is low in cholesterol can help reduce undesirable high blood cholesterol and help regulate cholesterol levels in your body. High cholesterol foods may contain trans fats or saturated fats that are bad for your HDL cholesterol levels. High cholesterol foods include organ meats like liver, sweetbreads, kidney and animal brains. Egg yolk, dairy products and meats may have high cholesterol content.
