Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs without any help from you. You don't ever need to eat a cheeseburger or butter croissant to get enough cholesterol. Unfortunately, those fatty items may tempt you more often than a bowl of vegetables over brown rice. Fortunately, a change of eating habits can protect you from the dangers of too much cholesterol.
TLC Diet
The American Heart Association and the National Cholesterol Education Program jointly recommend the TLC diet to lower cholesterol. The TLC -- Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes -- diet limits your daily fat consumption to 25 percent of your daily calories. Calories from saturated fat -- mostly from animal products such as meat and cheese -- should account for no more than 7 percent of your diet. Polyunsaturated fat -- vegetable oil, some fish and nuts, for example -- should account for no more than 10 percent of your total calories. You should get the bulk of your fat -- 20 percent of daily calories -- from monounsaturated fats such as olive oil. Carbohydrates should form about 50 to 60 percent of calories and proteins about 15 percent. Aim to include 10 to 25 g of soluble fiber in your diet. A bowl of oatmeal with an apple or blueberries provides about 10 g of soluble fiber.
Mediterranean Diet
A Mediterranean diet can help lower your choleserterol and protect you from heart disease, cancer, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's diseases. The Mediterranean diet, based on the eating habits of people who live in Greece, Spain, Italy and other countries that border the Mediterranean sea, includes a lot of olive oil, fruits and vegetables. It limits red meat consumption to several times a month. It includes lean poultry, whole grains and allows a moderate amount of red wine.
High-Fiber Diet
A high-fiber diet can help you lower your cholesterol. Eating 10 g of soluble fiber a day can reduce your low-density lipoprotein by 5 percent. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol is commonly referred to as the bad cholesterol. Good sources of soluble fiber include oats, kidney beans, apples, barley, psyllium and pears. You can snack on fruit, nuts and plain popcorn. A high-fiber diet includes 38 g of fiber a day for men younger than 50 and 31 g of fiber for men older than 50. Dietary fiber totals for women are 25 g per day for those younger than 50 and 21 g of day for those older.
Considerations
Food preparation plays an important part in keeping your cholesterol low. Steam or grill food rather than fry it. Stir-frying is better than deep-fat frying, particularly if you use olive oil. You can raise your good cholesterol -- high-density lipoprotein, or HDL -- by exercising more. You can lower a third kind of blood lipids, triglycerides, by eating less sugar and drinking less alcohol. And by losing weight, you'll raise your HDL levels and lower your bad LDL, which together will help to unclog your arteries.
References
- Better Health Channel: Cholesterol
- HealthCastle.com: TLC Diet -- a Diet for High Cholesterol and Heart Disease Recommended by the American Heart Association
- HealthCastle.com: Top 5 Super Foods to Lower Cholesterol
- Fat-Free Kitchen: Foods To Eat To Lower Cholesterol
- MayoClinic.com; Mediterranean Diet: Choose This Heart-Healthy Option; June 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Why Eat a High Fiber Diet?; April 2010
