Foods that Lower Cholesterol
What is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a fat that is created by your liver. There are two types of cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins (HDL- good) and low-density lipoproteins LDL(bad). Foods that you eat help determine your overall levels of both. Foods which contain saturated fat raise your bad cholesterol levels. Foods that come from plants do not contain cholesterol.
What is the Cholesterol Range?
To measure your cholesterol please visit your doctor.
LDL cholesterol (bad) level should be below 2.0 mmol per litre and your HDL (good) should be above 1.0 mmol per litre.
What is an ideal cholesterol level?
We have written an article on the ideal cholesterol level.
Foods that lower bad cholesterol
What foods with help you lower your cholesterol? Well, we discuss a few that will help lower your cholesterol due to it's good fats, high fiber, low overall total carbohydrates and no animal fats (because they are high in saturated fats).
Fruits
Fruits are high in fiber and other nutrients that your body needs to stay healthy. We have compiled a list of fruits that will help you determine which fruits are needed to complete your ideal nutrition meal plan..
Vegetables
Vegetables should be your target food when trying to lower your bad HDL cholesterol levels. Vegetables are full of great nutrients, contain some carbohydrates but keep your skin, bones and brain healthy. Steaming vegetables are you best bet to keep the nutrient profiles strong.
Complex Carbohydrates
Foods like steel cut oats, quinoa, spelt, whole grain including the germ breads are ideal sources of foods that will help give you energy and keep your brain alert during a long day at the office.
Wild Fish
Bigger fish like salmon contain less mercury than tuna and will provide a healthy dose of omega 3's which help keep your eyes, brain and also help keep off excess belly fat. Fish contains complete protein and also have other important nutrients.
Egg Whites
Egg whites are extremely high in protein and will help keep you lean without the cholesterol that is contained in the yolk. Egg whites are also high in avidin which is a protein that helps the absorption of biotin.
Walnuts
Nuts and fish help your cholesterol in different ways but a recent study showed that:
Perople eating an ounce an a half of walnuts every day, decreased total cholesterol about 5% and LDL cholesterol by about 9%, This obviously helps your total cholesterol ratio.
Foods that raise bad cholesterol (LDL)
I'm sure you can guess what types of foods are bad in general and those foods are also high in saturated fats and also high in bad LDL cholesterol. These foods include:
While this isnt an exhaustive list, if it came from a can, package or bought from a restaurant it probably isn't going to help your good cholesterol levels.
Other Nutrient Rich Foods |
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