When suffering from high blood cholesterol, you actually have an abnormal level of this fatty substance in your blood, which can collect along the blood vessels, narrowing the arteries. This places you at a greater risk of coronary artery disease, heart attack and stroke. While there are a number of medications that can lower your cholesterol levels, most medical professionals first recommend dietary changes.
Step 1
Restrict saturated fats. With saturated fats, your goal is to keep them under 10 percent of your caloric intake. That means a diet of 2,500 calories should contain no more than 250 calories of saturated fat, but your doctor may recommend keeping it even lower than this. Saturated fats are found mostly in animal-based products, such as beef, pork, eggs and dairy.
Step 2
Avoid trans fat. Though more and more food manufacturers are moving away from trans fat, it's still used in a number products today, including cookies, cakes, chips and fried foods. As you purchase groceries, make sure to check all food labels.
Step 3
Limit dietary cholesterol. With high cholesterol, you should really watch your intake of dietary cholesterol found in dairy, eggs and red meats. Keep it under 200mg each day to make an impact on your cholesterol levels.
Step 4
Eat more fruits and vegetables. Not only does produce contain no saturated fats, trans fats or cholesterol, it also is rich in fiber, a nutrient long held beneficial to cholesterol levels. Actually, 3/4 of your average plate at mealtime should contain fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Step 5
Incorporate whole grains into your diet. Most people will tell you that whole grains are heart-healthy foods. This is largely due to their fiber content, which affects the way in which bile is absorbed in the body. The more fiber you eat, the more bile is lost in your stool, causing your liver to use cholesterol to create more bile.
Step 6
Don't forget the fish. It's also important to increase the amount of cold-water fish, such as salmon, herring, trout, tuna and mackerel, when dealing with high cholesterol. Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids, which can increase the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), also known as "good" cholesterol, in your blood. HDL actually grabs hold of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, and rids it from your system, reducing cholesterol levels.
Step 7
Cut calories. It's also important for you to cut your caloric intake, especially if you're overweight. When your body mass index escalates to upward of 30, your body tends to have higher levels of cholesterol. By dropping just a few lbs., you'll often see a positive impact on cholesterol.
Tips and Warnings
- Fiber may also have an effect on the amount of cholesterol created in the liver. An enzyme is created during digestion that is believed to slow the liver's creation of cholesterol, thereby reducing cholesterol levels. Along with diet, try to incorporate some level of physical fitness, like biking, swimming or walking. To make an impact on your health and cholesterol, you really only need to exercise about 30 minutes a day.
- Consult with your physician before starting any diet or exercise program.
