Good Cholesterol Foods – An Alternative Way To Reduce Cholesterol Level
We hear them preached everywhere, every time.. Eat good cholesterol foods and reduce your figures. When it comes to cholesterol, we all know that there are “good” ones and “bad” ones, with HDL being the good type and LDL the bad type. The problem is how to stick with the good one and get rid of the bad one? It’s a rather complicated subject, so let’s start..
Cholesterol itself is actually very important to human life. It’s when they are present in high levels in your bloodstream that it becomes a problem. Diseases such as stroke, heart disease and other cardiovascular related diseases are associated with high cholesterol. Specifically, high LDL and low HDL should be avoided. LDL may become hardened and forms plaque in your arteries, therefore slowing blood flow. HDL on the other hand, has the ability to take back excessive LDL back into the liver.
We don’t exactly eat HDL or LDL, it forms in the body. Some of the foods that we eat do contain cholesterol, such as eggs, dairy and animal fat. Plant oils and fats contain a cholesterol-like substance called phytosterols. They help lower blood cholesterol levels. Saturated and trans-fats contribute to high LDL, as do simple carbohydrates, such as sugar and white flour.
In general, good cholesterol foods are foods coming from plants, because of the phytosterol they contain. Most animal meats are not good when it comes to cholesterol, except fish (especially deep sea fish) because they contain Omega-3 fats, which are found in canola oil as well.
A good diet for keeping LDL levels low would include lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grain foods, such as oatmeal and fish. Eating a bowl of oatmeal every day has been shown to reduce LDL levels.
It’s a healthy decision to use olive or canola oil when you cook or bake, rather than lard or saturated fat. It has been determined that eating certain nuts decrease risk of heart disease. So, eat some of them every day when you can: hazelnuts, walnut, almonds, pecans, pistachios and peanut. An ounce a day is recommended, provided you’re not allergic to them, of course.
What you can also try is to replace your daily dose of coffee and soda with green tea instead. Green tea has been shown to have many health related benefit, lowering LDL level is one of them. If you need sweetener to go with it, stay away from processed sugar. Use honey or raw cane sugar.
Try taking lots of different antioxidants in your daily diet. When cholesterol in your body becomes oxidized, they form hard plaques in the arteries, which are very dangerous. Antioxidants such as green tea, vegetables and fruits help preventing this process from happening.
If you can’t stop eating meat or poultry, choose lean cuts. If you can’t stop milk or other dairy products, choose reduced fat products made with skim or low-fat milk.
Making the switch from bad to good cholesterol foods may be easier than you think. You just need to make the right choices.
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