Cholesterol is vital for human health, but it’s entirely possible to have too much or too high count within your body.
Just like bacteria, there is a good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL), and depending upon which type you have can spell trouble for you.
Your ultimate goal is not only to know how to reduce cholesterol but how to increase your good cholesterol (HDL) and reduce your bad cholesterol (LDL).
Therefore, it is necessary to know what foods are high in cholesterol so that you could plan your diet accordingly.
There are some foods to avoid with high cholesterol to keep your numbers under the recommended range.
Diet is a high contributor to cholesterol, too – a bad diet can cause your cholesterol level to build high. This, however, also means that to a certain degree, it’s controllable.
Any number above the optimal range should be taken seriously and diet, lifestyle should be changed accordingly.
Cholesterol can block your arteries which can lead to heart attacks strokes, and ultimately: death.
In the United States, a massive 31% of the
population is known to have a high count of bad cholesterol. This equates to
around 73 million people – an incredibly high number. Out of that 31%, only 29%
are receiving treatment to control their cholesterol levels – that’s less than
a third of the 73 million, leaving a large portion of the population who aren’t
doing anything about it.
Even Canada tops the United States with an average
of around 39% of the population rating high with bad cholesterol. They’re not the only places, either – many
across the world show a high level of bad cholesterol, with the results coming
from a wide range of people – the age ranges alone are between 6 years old and
75 years old, of all genders and races.
Without management, high cholesterol levels can lead to lots of problems and put lives at risk.
There are many ways that can put your cholesterol levels under control, and one of those ways is to ensure that you’re eating a healthy diet.
There are many foods to lower cholesterol naturally without you having to put too much effort in.
Even the smaller changes can help you to keep your numbers down that will improve your quality of life and increase your life expectancy exponentially.
If you are committed and want to get your numbers under control without any medication you should aim to put your bad cholesterol under optimal range, and try to increase your good cholesterol.
Here are top 15 foods to help lower
cholesterol naturally.
1.
Fruits: What do they do with
cholesterol levels?
Fruits should be a part of your diet anyway, and
Most fruits, including apples, berries and
pomegranates, all have a high fiber content which is what helps lower the total
cholesterol as well as reduce the amount of bad cholesterol in your body.
Whenever you can, try and eat fruits with their skin still on, as this provides even more fiber, giving you the best chance to lower your cholesterols.
You can eat fruits as a snack or a desert after a meal
and they don’t really require any prep work. You can aim a fruit rich diet to
lower cholesterol levels (total cholesterol & bad cholesterol).
2.
Green Tea, how to lower
cholesterol naturally with this wonder drink.
This isn’t a new one; green tea is known to help
with a lot of different areas of health, including weight loss. It can even lower the amount of cholesterol in your body.
Preparing it without sugar helps it to be even
healthier. You can easily change your afternoon tea for a green tea,
introducing it into your diet easily to help. Green tea doesn’t affect the good
cholesterol in your body, either, meaning that you’re solely concentrating on
the bad aspects of your health.
3.
Fish: How do they Lower your
Cholesterol Numbers.
Fish such as tuna, salmon and sardines contain
high levels of Omega 3, which can help reduce the risk of heart disease and
heart attacks and also increase the amount of good cholesterol (high-density
lipoproteins) in your body.
To get the best results from this, it’s best to avoid frying the fish and instead opt to bake or steam the fish. This increases the benefits that you receive from it and give you a healthier diet, too.
It’s
recommended by the American
Heart Association to try and include two servings of fish in your diet
to really get the best out of it.
4.
Eggs: Why are there misconceptions?
Eggs are something that has been given the bad press, especially when it comes to cholesterol. It’s widely believed that if your cholesterol is already high then you should avoid them. This isn’t true.
Eggs contain choline in the yolks, which actually helps to dissolve
cholesterol in the body to ensure that the cholesterol from eggs can move
freely through your body without sticking to the walls of your arteries,
meaning that it actually helps you if you have a high level as it can break it
down and reduce it.
Preparing them is easy – there are many ways that you can cook an egg to get the benefits out of it and they make a great component
5.
Onions: Increases good
cholesterol in your blood
Raw onion is a great way to increase the amount of good cholesterol in your body, and
can help reduce the ‘stickiness’ of the blood cells already in your body,
meaning that cholesterol is less likely to stick to them and cause you a
problem. It can also prevent cholesterol levels from spiking after a
particularly fatty meal.
6. Tomatoes: Good for healthy heart and cholesterol
Tomatoes are great for a snack – they don’t
really need any prep time, they’re delicious to eat raw, or you can roast them
and add a little seasoning to really burst out the flavour of them. They’re
also full of lycopene, which is included in most red fruits as it’s what gives
them their colour.
The addition of lycopene actually can help to
reduce the amount of bad cholesterol in your body with results coming in around
10-17% reduction, which is a great help if your cholesterol level is high.
Tomatoes also help with developing a healthy heart, lowering your risk of heart
disease.
7. Celery: Rich in antioxidants
Celery contains a high level of antioxidants, and can be added to just about anything thanks to its undistinctive flavour. It can easily be added into soups and salads without ruining the taste of them. It can reduce the levels of bad cholesterol and prevent oxidation.
You can even use it in drinks, if you make your own juices, which can give you
a real boost. It’s also great as a snack as part of a healthy eating diet.
Celery contains fewer calories in it than it takes
to actually eat – meaning you’re burning calories with every stick you eat!
8. Lemons: Fat burning to cholesterol-reducing
Lemons are high in vitamin C, but low in pretty
much everything else – including fat, sodium and cholesterol. They also contain
limonoids which have been attributed to help in slowing the production of a
substance that is usually linked with bad, high cholesterol named apo B. They reduce and
prevent the build-up of bad cholesterol with other health benefits.
They can be used in multiple ways – lemon juice
can be used as a seasoning on meats, over salad or drink as a part of a juice
drink or even with warm water.
9. Brown Rice: Tasty as well as healthy
Unlike white rice, brown rice actually maintains
most of its fiber, meaning that it’s healthier for you. The high fiber content
can help you to reduce the amount of bad cholesterol and even lower your blood
sugar levels.
You can prepare brown rice instead of white rice
with meals and it’s also tasty to eat a cup of rice as a snack – it will then
also account for a good portion of your recommended daily intake of fiber.
10. Broccoli: A fiber rich vegetable
Broccoli is a vegetable that can easily be included in meals and doesn’t take the time to prepare – you can also eat it raw. Broccoli helps lower your cholesterol thanks to the fiber, which binds the cholesterol to bile acids that then extract the cholesterol from your body through excretion.
In this case, steamed broccoli is better for you
than raw broccoli and offers a lot of additional health benefits. You can
include broccoli in stir-fries, soups and rich meat meals.
11. Garlic: Allicin that lowers cholesterol
Garlic is an extraordinary produce that has a lot of
health benefits. One of these includes lowering cholesterol thanks to the
allicin that is found in it.
Even in small qualities, when raw, it can reduce
the cholesterol by around 10%. You can add garlic to most things to increase
their taste, and it can be eaten raw with no necessary preparations being
needed.
12. Soy Products and their amazing cholesterol-lowering
benefits
Soy is a great product for reducing cholesterol.
It includes a high amount of protein which helps, and it doesn’t affect the
good cholesterol in your body, meaning that it’s safe to use to help you
maintain a good balance of cholesterols.
You can use soy to replace dairy products in
your diet easily enough and it can also help replace proteins if you’re not a
big meat eater. You can find soy milk, for example, which can replace the milk
in your tea and coffee without ruining the taste.
13. Nuts are rich in fiber
Nuts are a great source of healthy omega 3 fats and fiber, both of which can reduce cholesterol and help promote a healthier heart, reducing your risk of heart disease or heart attack. Too many can be bad for you, too, however, so it’s important that you control your quantities when picking nuts as your snack.
You can add them to cereals, or use them as a
small snack during the day, without any need to prepare anything. It’s best to
stay away from the salted nuts as they can do more harm than good.
14. Flax Seeds
Flax seeds have been shown to reduce bad
cholesterol by around 14%, giving a good boost to your body and helping to get
it right back on track. They’re a great form of omega 3, too, like nuts are.
Try and limit yourself to no more than 50 grams
a day as too much is bad for you – as with any food. You can add them to baked
goods easily or even to cereal as part of your morning meal to get the best out
of them. One of the best ways to have
them is to grind them up just before consuming them as you get the most
benefits from them in this state.
15. Oats: Start your day with it
Oats have a large quantity of beta-glucan which
is a form of fiber that is soluble. It soaks up the cholesterol that is found
in the bile acids in the digestive system, reducing the amount that is found
there. This helps to lower the amount of bad cholesterol that you have in your
system.
You can easily turn your oats in to oatmeal to
give you a good start of the day and to ensure that you’re giving your
cholesterol levels the best chance at lowering to a healthier rate without too
much effort.
Really, all of us panic when we see any medical
condition that needs to be cured. We always rely on medicines that sometimes do
more harm than good. You should aware that cholesterol -lowering drugs have
severe complications and need to be attended. Therefore, if you have high
cholesterol then you should first try the resources mentioned above. Many
people want to know what to eat to lower cholesterol naturally and here you
have what you need.
If you have anything that you want to discuss
please leave your comment.
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