High Cholesterol foods – what they are, and what to do about them
So, are there high cholesterol foods that you should be avoiding if you are at risk of heart problems because your cholesterol levels are too high? Absolutely, start by eating less fat, especially saturated fat. Try to eat less than 30% of your total calorie intake in the form of fat, and in fact no more than 10% of the total calories you consume should come from saturated fats.
What is a saturated fat? Saturated fat is generally a solid at room temperature, and it is called saturated because in its chemical makeup the carbon atoms are saturated with hydrogen. Eating saturated fats will raise your cholesterol level, leading to heart disease, and other heart problems.
Trans fat is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, or hydrogenated vegetable oil. The Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that saturated fat and trans fat combined make up no more than 8% of total calorie intake, since people eating foods that contain trans fats are at an increased risk of heart disease. This is because trans fat raises the LDL or bad cholesterol levels, while it reduces the HDL or good cholesterol levels in the blood. Always look for the words shortening, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil or hydrogenated vegetable oil on the food label, these are nothing but trans fats.
The foods that you eat that come from animal products, like cheese, egg yolks, cream, milk, as well as meats, poultry and fish all contain cholesterol, and this is in addition to the cholesterol that your body is producing. Try also to reduce the amount of saturated fats, and trans fats that you consume too, as these encourage your body to produce even more cholesterol. This means that if you can cut down on your intake of cholesterol, you will start to get your cholesterol to the right levels. You can do this by eating less red meat, perhaps by cutting down the portion size that you eat, and also try to choose the leanest cuts, like tenderloin or flank steak, or top and bottom round beef, if your budget will allow you to do this.
Remove all the fat you can easily see from the meat, poultry or fish before cooking it, or just before serving it. Try baking, broiling or poaching meats, poultry and fish rather than frying them in fat. You will be reducing your high cholesterol nicely by cutting out all this extra fat that you consume each day.
Try eating legumes – dried beans, peas and lentils – and grains, like oatmeal or oat bran, instead of meat occasionally. They do not contain cholesterol, since they are not animal products, and so are healthy foods for you to eat. And you do of course need to be eating plenty of fruits and vegetables each day in a variety of colors.
Now when it comes to baking, it is possible to use less oil or fat than the recipe calls for by replacing these with applesauce, pureed prunes or mashed bananas. This will still make good muffins or other baked goods, but you will have added more fruit to your diet which is of course a good thing to do, especially when the fruit replaces fat that you would normally have eaten.
Use skim milk or 1% milk instead of 2% or whole milk, as this will reduce your fat intake.
Reduce the number of egg yolks that you eat, as they are high in cholesterol. You can buy packs of egg whites alone, without the yolks, so try using these instead of whole eggs. Now, eggs have about 225mg of cholesterol in each egg, and since the recommendations are that you keep you daily cholesterol intake below 300 mg, then it is clear to see that by eating 2 eggs for your breakfast puts you over the top very easily, and that’s just for one of your meals! You should recognize also, that butter has roughly 250 mg of cholesterol for each ounce of weight. Again, even using a little butter can easily put you over the recommended amount of cholesterol each day. Think what this is doing to your arteries!
Eat cheese that is made with skim milk, or choose those cheeses that have less than 20% milk fat, as written on the label. Yes, it does take longer to shop when you have to read the labels, but it is something you need to do so that you know exactly what you are eating. You may be in for some surprises once you start reading food labels!
Eat low fat or non-fat cottage cheese and yogurts. Similarly use fat free sour cream, and fat free cream cheese.
Now you may miss the fat content in these foods initially since fat certainly adds flavour to foods, but over time, you will be able to adjust and enjoy these lower fat foods, especially when you know that they are healthier for you and your body, especially your heart.
When you are cooking, try steaming your vegetables. However, if you do choose to saute them, use as little olive oil as possible, under one tablespoonful, or canola oil or corn oil. You could use other liquids for example red wine, which is good for antioxidants, or broth with the fat removed, or even cooking sherry.
If you can use non-stick pans, you will not need as much fat for your cooking. You could try seasoning vegetables with herbs and spices rather than butter or other sauces which contain butter, and when it comes to salad, try lemon juice, or a fat free dressing, or a fat free mayonnaise.
By eating less of these high cholesterol foods mentioned above, you will be doing yourself a huge favour, and your heart even more. Be more aware of what you are eating – check the food labels, especially on heavily processed foods in cans, packets, or even frozen products.
Try to eat more fresh foods, especially fruits and vegetables.And by paying more attention to what you eat, and by cutting down on the high cholesterol foods, you will start taking control of your health before it is too late.
