Cholesterol Diet – Chart Plan, Foods to Eat & Avoid

Cholesterol is an organic compound that our body produces to help build cell membranes and produce hormones such as testosterone and estrogen. Most of the cholesterol needed for our bodily processes is naturally produced by our liver. The rest is obtained from dairy products, meat, eggs, fish, poultry and other similar food sources.

The liver regulates cholesterol in our body. After consuming it as part of our diet, our small intestine absorbs and metabolizes it, then stores it in the liver.

The liver secretes it as the body needs it. Excess cholesterol is harmful to our bodies because it builds up in deposits along the interior walls of our arteries and causes them to narrow.

When our arteries narrow, the blood flow in our body decreases. In the event that this plaque ruptures, a blood clot may form which will completely stem the flow of blood. The clot thus formed can be the cause of a myocardial infarction or a heart attack if it occurs in one of the coronary arteries of the heart. Doctors and dietitians encourage us to follow a low cholesterol diet for this reason.

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Types of cholesterol

You may have heard of “good” and “bad” – but what exactly makes cholesterol good or bad? Let’s learn below. Cholesterol is mainly of two types.

LDL cholesterol

LDL or low-density lipoprotein is called the “bad” cholesterol. Excess LDL can be extremely detrimental to your body as it predisposes you to health complications such as stroke or heart disease. Cholesterol that contains even lower protein levels than LDL is called VLDL or very low density lipoprotein.

HDL Cholesterol

HDL, or high density lipoprotein, works to remove cholesterol from our bloodstream. If your cholesterol level is high, but it’s because your HDL level is high, you have no reason to worry about your health. High HDL in your body is a protection against heart/arterial disease and stroke.

Triglycerides are another type of fatty component in our blood that we need to watch out for. When we eat more calories than our body needs, those calories are converted into triglycerides. Triglycerides can contribute to plaque buildup along our arteries if we have more LDL in our blood than HDL. A low cholesterol diet can help control our cholesterol levels by lowering LDL and triglyceride content and improving HDL levels in our blood.

Best foods for the cholesterol-lowering diet

Heart disease kills millions of people worldwide every year. Eating foods that lower cholesterol is a must for good heart health. High levels of LDL increase your risk of heart disease. In order to maintain a balanced range, you should make a habit of eating the following foods.

1. Almonds and walnuts

Nuts such as almonds and walnuts are high in monounsaturated fats. Walnuts also have a high content of omega-3 fatty acids, which is a polyunsaturated fat that benefits our heart health.

Nuts also tend to contain phytosterols which prevent the absorption of cholesterol in our intestines. Research has shown that eating as little as 2-3 servings of nuts each day lowers LDL cholesterol in our body by approximately 10.2 mg/dL.

2. Lawyers

Avocados are high in fiber and monounsaturated fats, which help increase HDL and lower LDL respectively. Clinical studies conducted to verify this claim have found it to be true. Avocados actually lower bad cholesterol in your body.

3. Legumes

Pulses or legumes, i.e. plant foods like peas, beans and lentils, are also effective cholesterol-lowering diet foods. They are high in protein, minerals, and fiber and can significantly lower your LDL levels.

4. Oats and barley

Whole grains like oats and barley reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. Unlike refined grains, whole grains keep every part of the grain intact and are able to provide more fiber, vitamins, plant compounds and minerals. Oats and barley are particularly beneficial for lowering LDL because they are both high in beta-glucan, a type of soluble fiber that helps lower your body’s bad cholesterol levels.

5. Fruit

Fruits also contain soluble fiber which lowers LDL, preventing your liver from producing more of this compound. Pectin, a type of soluble fiber, can reduce it by 10%. Pectin is found in citrus fruits, grapes, strawberries and apples.

Berries and grapes, in particular, are rich in plant compounds that can balance cholesterol levels by increasing HDL content and decreasing LDL concentration in our body.

6. Oily fish

Salmon, mackerel and other fatty fish contain long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids boost good cholesterol, reducing inflammation and the risk of stroke. Fatty fish proteins also contain peptides, which are beneficial for our heart health.

7. Cocoa

Cocoa is another reliable name in the list of cholesterol-lowering diet foods. Dark chocolate and other cocoa-rich food items work effectively to lower LDL and aid in HDL production. Cocoa prevents the bad cholesterol in our body from oxidizing, which usually leads to heart disease.

8. Soy foods

Soy foods reduce total cholesterol and LDL levels in people with high cholesterol and also increase HDL levels.

9. Garlic

The allicin and other plant compounds in garlic lower our LDL cholesterol levels and help reduce heart health risks.

10. Tea

Tea lowers the overall cholesterol and LDL content in our body. Research has not yet been able to determine whether tea can also improve HDL conclusively. Compounds found in tea, however, regulate blood pressure and blood vessel function.

11. Vegetables

Vegetables like okra, carrots, potatoes, and eggplant also contain pectin, the same soluble fiber found in berries and grapes that lowers body cholesterol.

12. Olive oil

Rich in monounsaturated fatty acids, olive oil helps increase HDL content and reduce LDL content in the body.

13. Dark leafy greens

Dark leafy green vegetables are beneficial in reducing the cholesterol content of the body. It binds to bile acids and promotes its excretion.

They also contain carotenoids such as lutein, which reduce the concentration of oxidized LDL around the artery walls. Basically, kale, spinach, and other leafy greens are incredibly good for our hearts.

These cholesterol-lowering diet foods help regulate cholesterol levels in our body, thus keeping our heart safe and healthy. Make a habit of consuming them and you will never have to worry about heart disease again!

Diet to lower cholesterol

Making a few changes to the diet you follow daily can significantly lower cholesterol levels. Why resort to drug therapy, when you can achieve the same results by following a TLC diet instead?

A TLC or Therapeutic Lifestyle Change Diet is a diet low in trans and saturated fats and high in soluble fiber and protein.

The TLC diet is an effective way to lower cholesterol levels. If you follow this diet, you are supposed to consume less than 7% of your total calorie needs from saturated fat and consume less than 200 milligrams of dietary cholesterol.

You are encouraged to increase your intake of fruits, whole grains, vegetables, poultry, fish, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products on the TLC diet.

People on the TLC diet are advised to consume only the number of calories they need, to avoid unnecessary weight gain. You are asked to maintain a healthy weight with this diet. Soluble fiber, which has LDL-lowering abilities, is recommended for consumption as part of the diet.

If you or your loved one are at risk for high cholesterol, you need to take proactive steps to lower its levels in your body. You can do this by limiting the total fat intake in your diet to less than 25-35% of your overall daily caloric needs and by eating foods that lower cholesterol.

Try to limit trans fat intake to less than 1% of the same measure. The consumption of healthy fats such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats found in oily fish, unsalted nuts, vegetable oils and seeds is encouraged.

Cholesterol lowering foods such as high fiber foods i.e. bran, oatmeal, olive oil, pear, apples and foods with plant sterol additives are healthy foods that you should include in your daily diet to avoid the problem.

Ideally, one should follow a balanced diet to ensure that there is no unnecessary weight gain and that you can keep your cholesterol levels low. Learn more about the perfect diet for you here.

TotalChart of Cholesterol Levels and Age/Sex: The Connection

Your cholesterol level can determine your risk of developing heart disease. These levels cannot be measured uniformly, as they differ by age, gender, and weight.

As we age, our bodies produce more cholesterol. It is usually measured to give individual results for the amount of total cholesterol, LDL and HDL content.

We should aim to keep both our total and LDL cholesterol levels low. A high level of HDL, on the other hand, as already discussed, is effective in preventing beleaguered heart disease.

Children are generally not at risk for high cholesterol, but it is essential to monitor it and keep it low anyway. A prolonged period of unmanaged cholesterol can be extremely difficult to deal with.

It has been noticed that men tend to have higher cholesterol levels. Women, however, tend to have high cholesterol levels during their menopause.

Cholesterol levels for children

According to JACC Trusted sourceHere are the recommended cholesterol levels for children:

All values ​​are in mg/dL:

Cholesterol level for adults

A healthy adult would have a total cholesterol level below 200 mg/dL.

A total cholesterol level between 200 and 239 mg/dL is considered borderline high, and a reading above 240 mg/dL is considered high and of concern.

The LDL level in an adult should be less than 100 mg/dL. A reading of up to 129mg/dL is considered acceptable for people without a predisposition to heart disease.

When the LDL measurement is between 129 mg/dL and 159 mg/dL, you are considered to have a high LDL borderline. 160-189mg/dL is thought to be high, and a reading above 190mg/dL is considered a very high LDL blood cholesterol concentration.

Adults should aim to keep their HDL levels to a minimum of 40 mg/dL. Anything less is thought to contribute to a risk of developing heart disease.

An HDL reading of 41 to 59 mg/dL is considered borderline low in adults. Ideally, as an adult, you should have an HDL level of around 60 mg/dL or higher.

Cholesterol symptoms

Symptoms of high cholesterol can often not be very apparent. As a result, you might have high cholesterol and not even know it. A body rich in it stores excess cholesterol in the arteries.

These arteries are responsible for carrying blood from our heart to the rest of our body. The buildup of cholesterol in our body is called plaque. Over time, these plaques harden and put pressure on our arteries. If your body accumulates large deposits of these plaques, your arteries could become blocked.

Also, these plaques can sometimes split and form a blood clot that stops the normal passage of blood. Blockage of the arteries, in the case of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscles, can trigger a heart attack. If the same thing happens to an artery that supplies blood to the brain, you could have a stroke.

The tricky part about having high cholesterol is that you might not even know you have it unless you’re prone to one of these near-fatal events. The symptoms that indicate this are subtle and elude detection, making it difficult to diagnose excessive body cholesterol.

Summary

It is important to understand the difference between high density lipoproteins and low density lipoproteins in order to control your cholesterol levels.

The symptoms of the disease are such that it is not easy to detect them immediately. That said, one should focus on the type of foods they eat in order to keep their heart healthy and lower cholesterol levels in the body.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. How can I lower my cholesterol naturally?

A: 1. Limit your intake of foods high in saturated fat, trans fat and dietary cholesterol. Eat foods high in saturated fats like butter, fatty flesh like red meat, dairy products and palm oil.
2. Eat lots more high fiber foods (especially soluble fiber from foods like beans, oats, barley, fruits and vegetables).
3. Choose protein-rich plant foods (like legumes or beans, nuts, and seeds) over meat.
4. Lose as much weight as possible.

Q. Do eggs raise cholesterol?

A: Chicken eggs are high in cholesterol, but the effect of egg consumption on blood cholesterol is minimal compared to the effect of trans fats and saturated fats.
Dietary Guidelines recommends eating only 100 to 300 milligrams per day depending on your calorie level. A large egg contains about 186 mg of cholesterol, all of which is in the yolk.
If you like eggs but don’t want the extra cholesterol, eat only egg whites. Egg whites do not contain any. You can also use cholesterol-free egg substitutes, which are made with egg whites.

Q. What lowers cholesterol fast?

A: These 5 key lifestyle change tactics help to dramatically lower cholesterol levels, especially LDL:
1. Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans
2. Pay attention to fat intake
3. Eat more plant sources of protein
4. Eat fewer refined grains, like white flour
5. Higher levels of physical activity

Q. What foods cause high cholesterol?

A: The following foods can raise cholesterol levels:
1. Butter
2. Ghee
3. Hard margarines
4. Lard, animal fat
5. Fatty meat and meat products such as sausages, bacon
6. Whole cheese, milk, cream and yogurt
7. Coconut and palm oils and coconut cream

Q. How to control cholesterol in an Indian diet?

A: Indian foods can also lower your cholesterol levels. Methi seeds are rich in a compound called saponins which helps reduce its absorption from food. Garlic contains allicin which helps lower LDL and triglycerides.

In addition, onions are rich in antioxidants. These help raise HDL while lowering LDL levels in the body. You can also include flax seeds in your diet. They are full of omega 3 fatty acids and fiber which bind to cholesterol and decrease their absorption from food. They also help to increase HDL levels.