Your cholesterol count is one of the most important metrics for determining your risk of circulatory problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. The best thing you can do about your cholesterol count is to understand how different foods affect it. Starch, a common ingredient in many foods, may affect your cholesterol more than you suspect.
Cholesterol Basics
When you measure your total cholesterol, you're measuring the presence of three different substances in your blood: LDL, HDL and triglycerides. Low density lipoprotein cholesterol is harmful to your heart health. Although vital for tissue health, high levels will increase your risk for circulatory illness. High density lipoprotein cholesterol is good for your heart, in that it cleans the LDL out of your blood. Triglycerides aren't chemically cholesterol, but affect your heart the same way as LDL -- and are measured as a cholesterol when you are tested.
Starch Basics
Starch is a carbohydrate, one of the three basic macronutrients, along with proteins and fats. It's a simpler carbohydrate than sugars, but less complex than those you get out of whole-grain foods. Starch is a high glycemic index food, meaning it breaks down relatively quickly and can cause spikes in your blood sugar levels.
Starch and Cholesterol
Starch contains no fat. Since your body produces both HDL and LDL in response to the presence of different kinds of fat, it will not have a substantive effect on your levels of either kind of cholesterol. This assumes, of course, that you're not cooking the starch in, or with, high-fat ingredients, which is a common cooking practice.
Starch and Triglyceride
Your body makes triglyceride in response to elevations in your blood sugar, such as those caused by eating high glycemic index foods like starch. This means that eating starchy foods can increase your levels of triglyceride, and thus elevate your measure of total cholesterol.
Bottom Line
Starchy foods won't increase your levels of HDL or LDL cholesterol, but may increase your triglyceride count. This means they're a poor choice for a person suffering from dangerously high cholesterol levels, and should be an occasional choice for anybody worried that his cholesterol count may become high.
References
- Carbs-Information.com: Starch and Starchy Carbohydrates
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy;" Walter Willett; 2004
- CDC: Cholesterol Basics
