Foods that are high in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol facilitate plaque growth on the walls of your arteries, obstructing blood flow and hardening your blood vessels. This can cause intermittent pain in your legs called peripheral artery disease. You are also at greater risk for strokes and heart attacks. A low-cholesterol diet reduces waxy deposits and increases the good cholesterol proteins or HDL that remove plaque from your arteries.
Considerations
A diet that contains less than 300 mg cholesterol reduces your risk of hardened arteries or atherosclerosis, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. If you have high blood cholesterol already, or if you are taking medicine to lower your cholesterol, consume no more than 200 mg of cholesterol per day. Consider monitoring your HDL level and your bad cholesterol or LDL level instead of just your total cholesterol number. An HDL of 60 mg per deciliter of blood is optimal and an LDL level of less than 100 mg per dL is preferable.
Saturated Fat
Your body produces all the saturated fat is needs, according to a 2007 article by registered dietitian Janet Brill, Ph.D., published in "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal." Limiting your saturated fat intake from animal foods and coconut products is a vital aspect of a low cholesterol diet. Saturated fat is found in foods of animal origin, coconut and tropical oils. Keep your saturated fat intake to no more than 7 percent of your total daily calories. By decreasing the amount of saturated fat in your diet, you enhance your liver's capacity to remove cholesterol, lowering your bad cholesterol or LDL.
Trans Fat
Trans fat is chemically made and abundant in commercially manufactured foods like muffins, cakes, doughnuts, crackers, chips, cookies and microwave popcorn. Trans fat not only raises your LDL, it stimulates inflammation on the walls of your arteries, causing plaque to stick to the site of inflammation. Trans fat increases the affinity of LDL to the walls of your arteries where more cholesterol is deposited, enhancing plaque development. A good low cholesterol diet does not include any trans fat.
Healthy Choices
Including two servings per week of fish high in omega-3 unsaturated fats improves your cholesterol level by raising your HDL. Water-soluble fiber from oats, beans, fruits, peas and carrots also lowers your bad cholesterol. Eat 1 oz. of almonds or walnuts per day to decrease your LDL and raise your HDL.
References
- "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance"; William McArdle, Frank Katch and Victor Katch; 2007
- MayoClinic.com: Heart-Healthy Diet: 8 Steps to Prevent Heart Disease
- "ACSM's Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription; American College of Sports Medicine; 2010
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Eat Like You're in Crete: Teach Your Clients the Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet; Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.; September/October 2007
