A cholesterol-lowering diet generally improves your health and therefore has numerous positive qualities. That doesn't mean it's easy, however, nor does it mean a cholesterol-lowering diet is the most effective way to reduce your blood lipid profile. You might find the effort required to lower your cholesterol through diet is too substantial for the percent of cholesterol reduction you experience as a result. However, modifying your diet is ultimately a lifestyle change and teaches you habits that prevent you from raising your cholesterol again in the future. In all likelihood, if you have high blood cholesterol, your doctor will counsel you to follow such a diet.
Basics of Cholesterol-Lowering Diet
The basics of the diet your doctor will "prescribe" for you involve reducing your intake of saturated and trans fats and dietary cholesterol; increasing your intake of heart-healthy fats like monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and omega-3 fatty acids; and increasing your intake of fiber and plant-based foods. When these factors are combined with weight loss, smoking cessation and increased physical activity, the National Cholesterol Education Program, NCEP, states that you could lower you "bad" cholesterol by 20 to 30 percent, depending on how effective you are at each component.
Skipping Important Nutrients
One of the most common missteps people make in attempting to lower their blood cholesterol is being overzealous in reducing their dietary cholesterol. The cholesterol you eat has only a moderate impact on your cholesterol profile. That's because your liver uses saturated fat and simple carbohydrates to manufacture cholesterol. By avoiding dietary cholesterol, however, you may not get enough protein and certain vitamins. Cholesterol is only found in animal products -- meat and dairy. These are major sources of protein, and not getting enough can put you at risk of nutritional deficiencies. In addition, animal products are important natural sources of B vitamins, although it can be synthesized and fortified in other foods. B vitamins are essential to the metabolism of protein and fats. They also help create DNA and assist in digestion.
Effort Required May Not Match Reduction
NCEP's cholesterol-lowering plan is called "TLC," which stands for therapeutic lifestyle changes. People who have high cholesterol likely have a long history of unhealthy eating, possibly smoking, and diabetes. The changes required of them in the TLC diet are enormous, and individual components only minimally reduce your cholesterol. For example, NCEP states lowering your saturated fat to roughly 15.5 g daily --- a tough feat --- can reduce your bad cholesterol by 8 to 10 percent. Lowering your dietary cholesterol to less than 200 mg daily produces 3 to 5 percent reduction in bad cholesterol. Adding fiber --- 3 to 5 percent. Losing 10 pounds --- 5 to 8 percent. You may not feel the radical changes to your diet and lifestyle produce enough improvement in your cholesterol profile, especially if you consider that some cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins could reduce your bad cholesterol up to 55 percent. Your health-care provider is likely to recommend that you follow TLC along with drugs if your cholesterol problem is severe.
You Could Increase Your Cholesterol
Although rare, you could theoretically worsen your cholesterol profile by following certain dietary patterns. That's the conclusion of research published in the February 2011 "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry." In it, a Zhjiang University researcher concluded that people who follow a strict vegan lifestyle, and therefore look to restrict dietary cholesterol, might unwittingly increase their risk of atherosclerosis and blood clots. This is because avoiding meats and dairy, which are high in cholesterol, makes them miss out on vitamin B-12. As a result, vegans tend to have elevated levels of a substance called homocysteine, known to increase heart attack and stroke risks. B-12 and other B vitamins lower homocysteine. In addition, the author said vegans tend to have lower levels of "good" cholesterol, which is important because it helps your body dispose of "bad" cholesterol.
Increased Health Care Costs
Lowering your cholesterol, even through diet, is nothing you should do on your own. You need the advice of your doctor to begin the diet and to monitor your cholesterol profile, and you may need to consult a dietitian to ensure you eat a nutritionally balanced diet while rearranging the content of your eating. More contact with your health-care providers, unfortunately, may increase your health-care costs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that in 2006, 6.4 million visits to doctors' offices involved a cholesterol test. One in six Americans has high blood cholesterol.
References
- National Cholesterol Education Program; Your Guide to Lower Your Cholesterol with TLC; December 2005
- Harvard School of Public Health: Fats and Cholesterol: Out With the Bad, In With the Good
- 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
- "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry"; Chemistry behind Vegetarianism; Duo Li; Feb. 2011
- Harvard Health Publications: B Vitamins and Homocysteine
- CDC: Cholesterol Facts
