When testing cholesterol levels, doctors aren't looking for a specific condition or disease, but rather gauging your risk for developing cholesterol-related health conditions. The more out of range your cholesterol levels are, the more likely you'll suffer possible health consequences, including heart disease and stroke.
How Excess Cholesterol Affects the Body
Your body makes all the cholesterol necessary for normal function, such as hormone and bile acid production. You take in more cholesterol through diet, however. With too much cholesterol circulating in the blood, there's a risk for this sticky substance to attach to blood vessel walls. The result is a narrowing and hardening of the arteries in a process called atherosclerosis. This increases the risk for reduced or blocked blood flow to the heart and other parts of the body.
Heart Disease, Cholesterol and Diet
With reduced blood flow to the heart, heart disease can occur -- the number one killer of women and men in America, according to the National Institutes of Health. Blood flow can also stop altogether if a clot forms in an artery; the result is a heart attack. If the same thing occurs in the brain, stroke is the result. Fortunately, cholesterol levels can be lowered by changing your diet. A diet low in cholesterol, saturated fat and trans-fat is often recommended as a first-line of defense when high cholesterol has been diagnosed.
Foods to Avoid
Animal products are cholesterol-rich foods, particularly animal organ parts, egg yolk and shrimp. Animal food products are also a source of saturated fats, the number one factor in increasing levels of low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol in the body. LDL is considered bad cholesterol because it delivers cholesterol to the tissues. Reducing saturated fat is an important part of a diet aimed at lowering cholesterol. Eat lean cuts of meat, remove the skin from poultry and avoid whole-fat milk products to reduce saturated fat. Trans-fat food products contain hydrogenated oils and should be limited. Common trans-fat foods are stick margarine, baked goods, crackers and doughnuts. Avoiding these foods will help reduce your chance for heart disease.
Foods to Incorporate
You can lower your cholesterol by incorporating a diet rich in vegetables, fruit and whole grains. All of these foods are low-fat, fiber-rich and contain no cholesterol. Fiber is a nutrient proven to reduce heart disease and helps overall digestion. Fiber also promotes weight loss since it makes you feel fuller for longer periods of time, and is important because obesity is a risk factor for high cholesterol and heart disease. Regular consumption of oatmeal, oat bran, lentils, beans, apples, bananas and berries are a part of therapeutic cholesterol-lowering diet.
