If you have high cholesterol levels, particularly high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, you have an increased risk of developing atherosclerosis, heart disease and stroke. For this reason, health insurance physicals typically include tests of blood cholesterol levels. Having high cholesterol can increase your rates or cause the insurance company to reject your application, but you can lower cholesterol levels by following a healthy diet.
Foods to Avoid
Although a number of factors affect your cholesterol levels, including genetics, your diet has a significant impact on your total cholesterol. Limiting cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg a day if you have heart disease will help lower your cholesterol levels, says the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Get between 25 and 35 percent of your calories from fat and less than 7 percent from saturated fat to further improve cholesterol levels. This means you will need to limit or avoid foods such as red meat, egg yolks and whole-fat dairy products.
Foods to Emphasize
Whole grains are a good choice if you are trying to lower your cholesterol levels because they are rich in soluble fiber. Fresh fruits and vegetables should also be emphasized, MayoClinic.com notes, as these foods are also rich in fiber and provide important vitamins and minerals. Certain kinds of fish, such as mackerel, herring and lake trout, contain oils that can lower triglyceride levels and reduce your risk of having a heart attack.
Cooking for Lower Cholesterol
You can also lower your cholesterol levels by choosing lower-fat meats and poultry and changing how you cook foods. For example, when buying meat, look for cuts that have no visible fat and are marked "choice" or "select" instead of "prime," the American Heart Association recommends. Broil, roast and bake meats instead of pan-frying them, and cook meat on a rack to help drain some of the excess fat and cholesterol. Choose chicken and turkey instead of goose and duck, and remove the skin from poultry before you eat it.
Limitations
Changing your diet is one of the best ways to lower your cholesterol levels before a health insurance physical, but this process is not a "quick fix." For a cholesterol-lowering diet to work, you need to follow it on a regular basis and make other lifestyle changes, such as losing excess weight and getting more exercise. Overall, a lower-cholesterol diet will help maintain the health of your cardiovascular system and reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
