Cholesterol and triglycerides are lipids, or fat, produced by your body when you eat carbs, proteins and fats. Cholesterol is important to the body because it is the starter material for many hormones in the body and transports necessary fats to cells. Your total cholesterol needs to be under 200mg/dL. Your LDL, or bad, cholesterol should be under 130mg/dL, and your HDL, or good, cholesterol is recommended to be above 40mg/dL. Any time you eat, some of the excess calories are made into triglycerides and taken to the fat cells through out your body. Recommended levels for triglycerides are less than 150mg/dL.
Fat and Cholesterol
Eat less than 30 percent of your calories from fat, and less than 7 percent from saturated or animal fat. Total cholesterol intake is 200mg per day, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. When cooking, choose plant oils, such as olive, peanut, walnut or canola oils, to cook with. These plant oils are rich in monounsaturated fat, which help reduce your LDL cholesterol and raise your HDL cholesterol. Depending on your triglyceride reading, your dietary fat intake may be restricted to 50 or 60g per day. This is a treatment option for people with triglyceride levels above 500mg/dL. Your health care provider can give you specifics on how many fat grams you should eat to lower your triglyceride level.
Fiber and Cholesterol
Fiber helps bind cholesterol eaten in food and helps fill you up to reduce your calorie intake. Increasing your intake of soluble fiber 10 to 25g per day lowers cholesterol levels. Focus on eating foods, such as oatmeal, strawberries, beans and lentils, peas, apples and oat bran and brown rice. Plant sterols and stanols act like soluble fiber in your small intestine and decrease cholesterol absorption from food. Add plant sterols and stanols up to 2g per day. These plant additives can be found in margarine and other dairy products, such as yogurt.
Meat Intake
Choose meats with less marbling inside the muscle and trim off all visible fat before cooking. Remove skin from turkey and chicken reduces your saturated fat intake. To improve triglyceride levels, focus on having white meats, such as chicken breast and turkey cutlets. Choose beef and pork cuts that end in loin, because these are the leaner cuts of meat. Each serving of lean meat provides 3g of fat per ounce, so a 4 oz. serving of sirloin gives you 12g of total fat. The fats from meat is part of your fat recommendation, so focus on eaten smaller portions and add vegetarian foods to decrease your meat intake.
Carbohydrate Intake
Excessive calories from carbs and refined sugars can increase your triglyceride levels. Diets that provide more than 60 percent calories from carbohydrates are at risk of elevating your triglyceride levels. Reduce your intake of simple sugars and dessert items lower your carb intake. Focus on having fresh fruit as a sweet treat. Switch to whole-grain breads versus enriched white or wheat bread. Avoid desserts made with sugar. Sweeten beverages with low-calorie sweeteners such as stevia blends, sucralose or aspartame.
Trans Fats
Trans fats are chemically made fats by changing a liquid fat to a solid fat. These fats are found in packaged food. When reading food labels, you want to choose foods that contain 0g of trans fats. These trans fats can be more harmful than saturated fat in promoting unhealthy cholesterol levels. Look for words, such as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated soybean or vegetable oil. These are indicators the packaged food item has trans fats.
