Your diet has a profound effect on your blood cholesterol levels. That's why when your doctor tells you that your cholesterol levels are high, she may "prescribe" dietary changes to help improve your total cholesterol profile in addition to providing you with medications. Contrary to what you might think, the cholesterol in the food you eat doesn't have a huge direct effect on your blood cholesterol. That's because, your liver synthesizes cholesterol from simple sugars and fats from your diet. For that reason, the major focus of cholesterol-lowering dietary changes is reducing saturated and trans fats, along with adding nutrients proven to decrease your bad cholesterol.
The TLC Diet
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute developed what's known as the TLC Diet as a recommendation to health care providers who treat patients with high blood cholesterol. TLC stands for therapeutic lifestyle changes. It's a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet designed to lower your risk of heart disease. Your doctor may put you on this diet first to reduce your low-density lipoprotein, or bad, cholesterol. If the diet doesn't lower your cholesterol enough, your doctor may prescribe medication in addition to the TLC diet. To ensure you follow it correctly, your doctor may refer you to a dietitian who can help you fit the TLC-style eating into your daily routine. The TLC also works to help you lose weight or maintain your weight, as being overweight or obese can increase your risk of heart disease. TLC also has a physical activity component, encouraging you to get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily.
Dangerous Fats
TLC calls for you to reduce your saturated fat to less than 7 percent of your total daily calories. For a typical 2,000-calorie diet, that's only 140 fat calories, or 15.5 g of saturated fat. Saturated fat, says the NHLBI, raises your blood cholesterol more than any other component of your diet. Although it has health functions, your body makes all the saturated fat it needs, so you don't need to get it from food. You'll find the highest amounts of saturated fat in meat, poultry, full-fat dairy products, butter, lard and some vegetable oils. Trans fat are also dangerous because they lower your good cholesterol. They are found in many processed goods, labeled as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil. The 7 percent rule does not include trans fat. The NHLBI advises you to keep your trans fat as low as possible. The TLC diet also recommends you keep dietary cholesterol to less than 200 mg per day, primarily because where you find cholesterol, you also often find saturated fat.
Healthy Fats
Although it's important to watch your total fat intake, not all fats raise cholesterol. So it's important to remember that the TLC diet isn't simply about lowering all fat. The diet recommends you include some healthy unsaturated fats in place of saturated fat. This can help lower your cholesterol. Monounsaturated fats come from plant foods, such as olive, canola and sunflower oils. You can get polyunsaturated fats from safflower, cottonseed, corn and soybean oils, as well as many kinds of nuts and seeds. Omega-3 fatty acids are a kind of polyunsaturated fat that may also help protect you from heart disease. You can find them in fish like salmon and tuna, along with fish oils and flaxseed oil. Under the TLC program, your total fat intake should range from 25 to 35 percent of your daily calories, and that's inclusive of the 7 percent allotted for saturated fat.
Plant Sterols
Plant sterols and stanols, also known as phytosterols, are naturally occurring substances found in plant foods, including fruits, vegetables and vegetable oils, nuts and seeds. The Cleveland Clinic notes they help protect you from heart disease by blocking the absorption of cholesterol in the small intestine, and can lower your LDL cholesterol between 6 and 15 percent within weeks. The TLC diet calls for you to get 2 g daily to see these kinds of results.
Fiber
Fiber also comes from plants. The soluble form of fiber helps block the absorption of cholesterol and fats, says the NHLBI, adding that "TLC recommends that you get at least 5 to10 g of soluble fiber a day --- and, preferably, 10 to 25 g a day." Doing so could lower your LDL by 5 percent or greater if you eat the higher amounts. Good sources of soluble fiber include oatmeal and oat bran; whole fruits like bananas, peaches, apples and berries; and beans like black, kidney, white and pinto; and lentils.
Carbohydrates
A diet that is high in carbohydrates may increase another lipid, triglycerides, which is related to cholesterol. In addition, excessive amounts of carbohydrates may also lower your good cholesterol, according to the NHLBI and the American Heart Association. Although you are not advised to go on a low-carb regimen as part of TLC, the program advises you to avoid replacing the fats you take out of your diet with additional carbs. Excessive carbs is defined as eating more than 60 percent of your total calories from carbohydrates. TLC recommends eating mostly complex carbs, rather than carbs from processed foods.
References
- Hepatitis A-Z;The Cholesterol Controversy; Mark Johnson
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: High Blood Cholesterol: Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III); May 2001
- National Cholesterol Education Program; Your Guide to Lower Cholesterol with TLC; December 2005
- Harvard School of Public Health: Fats and Cholesterol: Out With the Bad, In With the Good
- Cleveland Clinic; Plant Sterols and Stanols; July 2009
- American Heart Association:Triglycerides
