High cholesterol is one of the causes of cardiovascular disease. Cholesterol itself is not harmful to the body and without it some processes are impossible, but if it becomes too much, it starts to settle on the walls of the blood vessels and help them block up.
To prevent the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, experts usually advise to avoid eating foods that are rich in cholesterol.
How much cholesterol needs
For normal operation of the human body, it needs about 1000 mg of cholesterol daily. In this case, the body itself produces almost 80% of this amount. The rest of the cholesterol he receives from products of animal origin - meat and dairy.
In plant foods( cereals, vegetables and fruits), cholesterol is not at all.
Foods that have a high level of cholesterol
- The biggest percentage of cholesterol is found in fatty meat - pork or beef. Do not abuse fatty breasts, carbonate, neck, ribs and other parts of animal carcasses containing a lot of fat. Remember - there is a lot of hidden fat in the pork fillet. As an alternative to this meat is to choose a low-fat chicken or turkey.
- Do not abuse the interior - liver, lungs and brains. One portion of this by-product contains most of the whole daily cholesterol.
- A large percentage of saturated fats and cholesterol in already processed meat - sausage, ham, canned meat, sausages and smoked products. Hidden fats are even in cooked sausage, which has no impregnation of bacon. In addition, such foods are usually too salty.
- Rich in cholesterol and poultry - goose and duck. They are best not to fry in fat, but to cut off excess fat and use dark meat from the legs and breasts of birds, after removing the skin.
- Very often eggs are also accused of excess cholesterol. But if you compare them with smoked meat or any fatty meat, cholesterol in them is not so much. At the same time, experts do not recommend eating more than one egg per day, and using proteins for cooking. It is also not worth it to refuse eggs, they contain many useful substances.
- Another major supplier of cholesterol is butter, cheese, sour cream and fatty yoghurts, which besides cholesterol also contain a lot of sugar. Dietitians advise eating low-fat or low-fat milk and other dairy products that have no more than 2.5 percent fat content.
- We get a lot of cholesterol together with industrial pastries, half-finished products, fast food and desserts. As a rule, such products are rich in saturated fats and trans fats.
Diets with increased cholesterol
Naturally, if you have high cholesterol in your blood, then you must limit it as much as possible with food. Diet with an elevated cholesterol level should be based on plant products, but also completely exclude from the diet products of animal origin is not worth it. In your diet should be present low-fat dairy products and meat, sea fish and other seafood.
To reduce consumption of cholesterol-rich foods, follow these rules:
- Remove from the kitchen foods rich in saturated fats: margarine, sausage, convenience foods, canned foods, a variety of snacks and biscuits. If they are not in your home, then the risk of their use disappears.
- While in the grocery store, remember the "perimeter rule".As a rule, all fresh vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy products and lean meat are located along the walls, and semi-finished products, canned food and processed foods are in the internal rows. When purchasing products, do not forget to "walk on stenochke."
- Try every time to buy a couple of fresh fruits or vegetables in the store that you have not taken or have not tried at all. The main source of fiber - it's apples, bananas, carrots, berries and broccoli, they contribute to lowering the level of cholesterol in the blood.
- Always read the contents of the product. If the package indicates that the product contains a lot of fat and calories, then before you food with high cholesterol.
- Prefer the unsaturated fats contained in nuts, olive and sunflower oil, marine fish. Such fats not only contain useful vitamin complexes and complex Omega-3, but also contribute to lowering cholesterol.
- Eat whole grains. The fiber in them binds cholesterol and reduces its flow into the blood.
- Do not completely abandon the meat. It is better to learn how to choose it correctly. Buy low-fat chicken, turkey and lean beef. Be sure to include in your diet marine fish that contains unsaturated fats, various seafood.
- Get used to the fact that vegetables and fruits are an important part of your diet. They contain little fat, lots of vitamins and low calorie.
Summary of
Proper nutrition is the main condition for lowering cholesterol in the blood. If you want to avoid an overabundance of cholesterol, try to choose low-fat meat and vegetable products and remove from the diet processed meat - sausages, sausages, sausages and all sorts of "store" semi-finished products.