Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Cholesterol And Diet Tips

Cholesterol And Diet Tips

Cholesterol balance in our body is affected by many factors. Age is one such factor, and we cannot control age. But exercise and diet are factors that are inside our scope of control. Even older people can manage to handle exercise and diet.

We will take a closer look at the connection between cholesterol and diet. Eating a low cholesterol diet is the best way to promote longevity, keep your arteries flowing and your heart ticking into old age. Figuring out the best foods to eat, however, is easier said than done. If you have been accustomed to eating whatever you please, suddenly needing to navigate your way through dietary information can feel like quite a chore.

When cooking, replace butter with olive oil, canola oil or peanut oil. In many baking recipes, you can use applesauce instead of butter, believe it or not! Dieticians recommend eating no more than 5 ounces of meat per day, substituting ½ cup of beans to get your protein and eating no more than 2 egg yolks per week. The circulating fat in the bloodstream is also known as the serum triglyceride level, and it also is a way to measure it. High blood pressure, diabetes, low HDL cholesterol levels and being overweight are just some risk factors that may occur in people with elevated triglyceride levels.

Foods high in fiber have the added benefit of helping to absorb and eliminate cholesterol from the intestines. Fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts are all high in fiber. Some fruits, such as citrus, apples, cranberries and blackberries are high in pectin, and are particularly good at reducing cholesterol levels. Unsaturated fats are the fats you are free to enjoy.

These will actually lower your cholesterol and decrease your chances of getting heart disease. When you are looking at a dietary label, you will see these listed as either monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. Either way, they are a safe fat to consume. Sesame, soybean and corn oil are all common unsaturated fats.

Using garlic as a flavoring, particularly when used instead of salt, is one of the best measures to take to maintain a healthy cholesterol diet. Using vegetable and olive oils when cooking is another small change to make. Lower consumption of foods high in saturated fat can be easily accommodated by reading labels and choosing healthier brands.

Everyday more heart healthy alternatives are sitting in the potato chip and cracker aisle at your local grocery store. Another quick fix is to replace butter and margarine with one of the new heart healthy spreads. Healthy diets are considered effective to lower cholesterol. A low cholesterol diet contains extremely low or no cholesterol at all. Diets of plant origin are the best low cholesterol diets.

Symptoms of high cholesterol can be, fatigue, depression and other emotional conditions. A good suggestion when starting a low cholesterol diet would be to avoid fatty, unhealthy foods, like french fries, and other fast foods that are high in cholesterol.

Junk food is never good, so when you are trying to stay on a low cholesterol diet, try to avoid these types of foods at all costs. Meanwhile, foods that are high in cholesterol and saturated fats should only be eaten in moderation. If possible, these should not be included in your diet. Avoid liver and other organ meats, egg yolks, full-fat dairy products, high-fat processed meats, and fried foods.

By: jannet

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