High cholesterol puts you at risk for heart disease, and carrying excess weight makes you additionally vulnerable. Fortunately, a meal plan to reduce cholesterol will also help you lose weight. You don't need to go hungry, and you don't need to sacrifice taste. You can even include some red meat in your weight loss plan, but not many eggs or cheeseburgers.
Dietary Recommendations
To lower your cholesterol, lose weight and improve your heart's health, include less fat and more fiber in your diet. MayoClinic.com recommends you limit dietary cholesterol to 200 mg to 300 mg daily, saturated fat to 16 g to 22 g daily, trans fat to 2 g daily and total fat to 44 g to 78 g daily. Men should aim to eat 38 g of fiber and women 25 g of fiber every day. Follow the lower numbers if, in addition to high cholesterol and extra weight, you face additional risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including being older than 50, having medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, a family history of heart disease, smoking and sedentary lifestyle.
Breakfast
Begin your day with a low-fat, high-fiber breakfast. You could enjoy 1 c. of non-fat plain yogurt with 1 c. of raspberries and obtain 4 mg of cholesterol, 0 g of saturated fat, 0 g of total fat and 8 g of fiber A bowl of oatmeal cooked with non-fat milk and topped with a sliced banana and 1 oz. of almonds provides 4 mg of cholesterol, 0 g of saturated fat, 15 g of total fat and 10.6 g of fiber. Almonds and other nuts contain healthy oil that can help to lower your cholesterol. But, while you're trying to lose weight, limit yourself to no more than a handful daily. Don't eat eggs often -- a single egg contains 212 mg of cholesterol.
Lunch
To keep cholesterol and saturated fat low at lunch, choose lean sources of protein such as tuna, ham or beans. Beans such as kidney, black, lima and pinto contain high amounts of protein -- as much as 15 g per 1 c. serving. You could make a sandwich on whole wheat bread with 3 ½ oz. of ham topped with lettuce, tomato, spinach, sprouts and mustard and obtain 53 mg of cholesterol, 2 g of saturated fat, 6 g of total fat and about 6 g of fiber. Eat an apple for dessert and you gain another 4.4 g of fiber and no fat.
Dinner
Choose lean meat for dinner and keep portions small. You could enjoy a 3 ½ oz. piece of beef sirloin, containing 89 mg of cholesterol, 5 g of saturated fat and 12 g of total fat if you didn't eat eggs for breakfast and followed a lean menu for lunch. Leaner meat options include ham, halibut, tuna and salmon -- each contains less than 65 mg of cholesterol and no more than 2 g of saturated fat per 3 ½ oz. serving. Good meatless choices include whole wheat pasta with vegetables and marinara sauce, beans with rice, tofu and vegetable stir-fry or black bean soup.
References
- MayoClinic.com; High Cholesterol; June 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Healthy Diet: End the Guesswork With These Nutrition Guidelines; February 2011
- American Dietetic Association, Eat Right; Health Implications of Dietary Fiber; 2008
- University of California San Francisco Medical Center; Cholesterol Content of Foods; Feb. 2 2011
- MayoClinic.com; Nutrition and Healthy Eating -- High-Fiber Foods; 2009
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