If you've been told to reduce your cholesterol levels with a low-fat diet, the task may seem formidable. You can overshoot your recommended amount of dietary cholesterol by eating two eggs, consume more trans fat than you should by snacking on three sandwich cookies and use up your daily allotment of saturated fat on a single crispy chicken sandwich. Even if you frequently dine out, however, you can manage a cholesterol-lowering diet.
Types of Dietary Fat
A low-fat, low-cholesterol diet needs to limit these types of fats: saturated fats, found in animal products and tropical oils; trans-fat, found in margarine and shortening; and cholesterol, found in animal products such as eggs, dairy and meat. You want to limit your consumption of all three of these artery-clogging fats. Include more healthy fats, such as those found in olive oil, fish, nuts and seeds. Keep your intake of all fats -- healthy or not -- to 20 to 35 percent of your daily calories or about 44 g to 78 g on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet.
Breakfast
A low-fat, low-cholesterol diet will avoid fare such as eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, pancakes and doughnuts. A balanced breakfast will include items from most of the four major food groups: protein, fruits or vegetables, grains and dairy. You can make an easy, microwavable breakfast with oatmeal, low-fat dairy, a handful of almonds and a sliced banana. Sprinkle with cinnamon for extra flavor. Another simple balanced breakfast could include whole grain toast with peanut butter and sliced apple or a whole wheat bagel topped with tomato and avocado. You can help keep your cholesterol low by choosing low or non-fat milk. Skim milk contains 4 mg of cholesterol and no fat, while whole milk contains 33 mg of cholesterol and 8 g of fat, including 5 g of saturated fat.
Lunch
You can maintain your low-fat, low-cholesterol diet at lunchtime, even if you dine at fast-food restaurants. A double quarter-pound hamburger with cheese contains 45 g of fat -- 65 percent of your daily recommended fat total and 95 percent of the total saturated fat you should eat daily. But if you choose a grilled chicken sandwich with mustard or barbecue sauce instead of mayonnaise, you'd keep the total fat content to 10 g, 15 percent of your daily allotment of total fat and 10 percent of your daily total of saturated fat. You could round out lunch with a container of low-fat yogurt and a piece of fruit or carrots sticks.
Dinner
A low-fat, low-cholesterol dinner might include a vegetable stir-fry with lean beef served over brown rice, grilled salmon with a spinach salad or whole-grain pasta with chicken and broccoli tossed with olive oil. A healthy diet includes about six servings of fruits and vegetables, six servings of grains, two to three servings of dairy and about 5 oz. of protein, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Plan dinners that help you meet these guidelines. Before you eat dinner, calculate the amount of fat you ate earlier in the day. MayoClinic.com recommends you limit saturated fat to 10 percent of your daily calories -- about 20 g -- and trans fat to 1 percent of your daily calories, or 2 g.
References
- Business Week: The Top 10 Trans-Fat Foods
- University of California San Francisco: Cholesterol Content of Foods
- McDonald's: Nutrition Facts
- MayoClinic.com: Healthy Diet: End the Guesswork With These Nutrition Guidelines
- University of California San Francisco: Cholesterol Content of Foods
- United States Department of Agriculture: My Pyramid
