9 Nutritional Tips For Low Cholesterol Diets

June 9, 2009 by · Leave a Comment
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Feeding your heart well is a powerful way to reduce or even eliminate some risk factors.  Adopting a heart-healthy diet can help reduce total and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol), lower blood pressure, lower blood sugars, and reduce body weight.  While most dietary plans just tell you what you cannot eat – usually your favorite foods, the most powerful nutrition strategy helps you focus on what you can eat. In fact, heart disease research has shown that adding heart-saving foods is just as important as cutting back on others.
Here are nine nutrition strategies to lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease:

1. Eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes.  These wonders of nature may be one of the most powerful strategies in fighting heart disease. The increase in dietary fiber helps lower bad LDL cholesterol.

2. Choose fat calories wisely. Keep these goals in mind: Limit total fat grams; Eat a bare minimum of saturated fats and trans-fatty acids (for example, fats found in butter, salad dressing, sweets and desserts); When you use added fat, use fats high in monounsaturated fats (for example, fats found in olive and peanut oil).  Another strategy is to use plant stanols or sterols as a dietary option for lowering bad LDL cholesterol.

3. Eat a variety and just the right amount of protein foods. Commonly eaten protein foods such as meat, dairy products are among the main culprits in increasing heart disease risk.  Reduce this nutritional risk factor by balancing animal, fish and vegetable sources of protein. Substituting soy protein for animal protein has been reported to lower LDL cholesterol, which reduces your risk of heart disease. Higher intakes of omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to help reduce the risk of heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends that fish be included as part of a heart-healthy diet.

4. Limit cholesterol consumption. Dietary cholesterol can raise blood cholesterol levels, especially in high-risk people. Limiting dietary cholesterol has an added bonus: You will also cut out saturated fat, as cholesterol and saturated fat are usually found in the same foods. Get energy by eating complex carbohydrates such as whole wheat pasta, brown or wild rice, whole-grain breads and limit simple carbohydrates like regular soft drinks, sugar, sweets. If you have high cholesterol, these simple carbohydrates exacerbate the condition and may increase your risk for heart disease.

5. Feed your body regularly. Skipping meals often leads to overeating. For some, eating five to six mini-meals may help keep cravings in check, help control blood sugars and regulate metabolism. This approach may not be as effective for those who are tempted to overeat every time they are exposed to food. For these individuals, three balanced meals a day may be a better approach.

6. Reduce salt intake for this will help control your blood pressure.

7. Exercise. The human body was meant to be active. Exercise strengthens the heart muscle, improves blood flow, reduces high blood pressure, raises HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol), and helps control blood sugars and body weight.

8. Drink adequate amount of water. Water is vital to life. Staying hydrated makes you feel energetic and eat less. Drink 32 to 64 ounces (one to two liters) of water daily (unless you are fluid restricted).

9. Enjoy every bite. Your motto should be dietary enhancement, not deprivation. When you enjoy what you eat, you feel more positive about life, which helps you feel better and less likely to overindulge.

How Much Is a Serving?  When you are trying to follow an eating plan that is good for your heart, it may help to know how much of a certain kind of food is considered a serving.

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  • Why Cholesterol Readings Matter

    As we grow older, we experience a lot of body pain that we wouldn’t even imagine being there before. Knee pain, back pain, shoulder pain and foot pain are just some of the different kinds of pains that we experience as we become older. This pain can be greatly reduced however if we are to do something about our cholesterol levels.

    And the first step in doing that is to get the right information by getting cholesterol readings. Now, cholesterol readings are done by calculating the total amount of high density and low density lipoproteins in the body.

    Based on this information, your doctor will make recommendations on what you ought to do about your cholesterol levels. For those who are unfamiliar with cholesterol readings, it’s worth mentioning that they can be divided into three major groupings.

    Normal Cholesterol Readings

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    Borderline High Readings

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    High Cholesterol Readings

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    For elderly people having high cholesterol problems, it’s imperative that you talk to your doctor about the situation. A high cholesterol level can easily cause heart problems, high blood pressure, knee pain, migraines and an assortment of other illnesses. So don’t be afraid to get the necessary tests. All it takes is a simple blood sample to determine your body’s condition in relation to cholesterol.

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