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The Best Low Carb Diet Plan to Lower Cholesterol

May 28, 2011 | By Ashley Jacob
The Best Low Carb Diet Plan to Lower Cholesterol
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A well-designed low-carb meal plan should be moderate in protein and high in fat. Not only can a low-carb diet help you lose weight, but it can also help you optimize your blood cholesterol levels. Although many fear low-carb diets because of their high saturated fat content provided by bacon, sausages, butter, cream and full-fat cheese, saturated fats are not associated with cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases, according to the most comprehensive meta-analysis done on the subject. It looked at 21 studies and 347,747 participants followed for up to 23 years and was published in January 2010 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."

Triglycerides and HDL Cholesterol Levels

Low-carb diets are particularly effective at lowering triglycerides levels, which should be below 150 mg/dL to keep your cardiovascular risk low. In addition, your heart-protective HDL cholesterol, which should ideally be above 60 mg/dL, can be significantly increased by reducing your carb intake. In a study including 120 overweight and hyperlipidemic volunteers, the low-carb diet, which provided less than 20 g of carbs a day in the initial phase, resulted in a reduction of 74.2 mg/dL of their triglycerides, compared to a decrease of 27.9 mg/dL in the low-fat group, and boosted their HDL cholesterol levels by 5.5 mg/dL, compared to a decrease of 1.6 mg/dL in the low-fat group, as published in the May 2004 issue of "Annals of Internal Medicine."

LDL Cholesterol Levels

LDL cholesterol levels are usually not significantly influenced by following a low-carb diet, as shown in the May 2004 issue of "Annals of Internal Medicine." However, the size of your LDL particles appear to constitute an even more important factor in determining your cardiovascular risk profile. A high-carb diet is associated with a more deleterious phenotype, characterized by small and dense LDL particles that are more likely to clog your arteries. On the other hand, low-carb, high-fat diets are associated with large and fluffy LDL particles, which are a lot less dangerous for your health, as explained in the August 2005 issue of "Nutrition & Metabolism."

Carbohydrate Restriction

The first step to establishing your low-carb diet plan is to have a look at your carb intake. Start counting and keep track of your daily carb intake. You can use food labels or online food composition tables to help you. Online tracking tools, such as the LIVESTRONG.COM MyPlate, can also be useful. Most studies showing good improvements on blood cholesterol levels recommend an initial carbohydrate intake of less than 20 g a day. To keep your carb intake that low, you will need to eliminate all grains, starchy vegetables, sugar, fruit, milk and yogurt, but you can keep eating plenty of non-starchy vegetables. Talk to your doctor, especially if you take medications, before lowering your daily carb intake.

What To Eat

In addition to including non-starchy vegetables at each of your meals, your low-carb diet plan should include moderate amounts of protein and considerably high amounts of fat. For example, you can include 4 to 6 oz. of protein at each of your meals, whether you choose chicken, fish, seafood, pork, beef, cheese or eggs. To get enough fat, add 1 to 2 tbsp. of olive oil, coconut oil, butter, cream, full-fat mayonnaise or full-fat dressing to each of your meals. You can also have avocado, bacon, fatty cuts of meat, full-fat cheese, nuts and nut butter to get enough fat in your low-carb diet.

References

Article reviewed by GlennK Last updated on: May 28, 2011

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