Low Cholesterol Diet Plan
Article by Sky Taylor, Diet Bites
Reducing Unhealthy Cholesterol Levels, When Decreasing is a Good Thing
Are you ready to kick those unhealthy levels down a few notches? Yes? Good!
Whether the situation involves lowering those unhealthy readings - or anything else that is related to your health, the first step towards a positive outcome is when the individual is willing to make changes.
And when the situation involves lowering cholesterol, this willingness can play positively on reducing those too-high levels.
Why is Reducing Vital to Health?
Cholesterol occurs naturally in the body and is necessary for life. But often, the foods that we eat throughout our day are too extreme in the fatty acids which influence our health negatively. Food choices that are packed with cholesterol, saturated and Trans fats have the potential to cause a build up in the arteries as time passes.
Because the arteries are the life-line to the heart, transporting live-giving blood, when a blockage occurs it impacts the heart. Depending upon the severity of the blockage, symptoms will vary.
The thing about blockages within the arterial walls is that when there is a 10% to 25% blockage, it will take time to reach a 90% blockage. But the more that the blockage builds over time, the shorter time is required for the percentage to build. For example, it will require quite a space of time for a ten percent blockage to build. But when the patient arrives at the 90% window - it won't require much time at all for the artery to expand to a 100% blockage.
Let's discuss the foods that impact cholesterol readings.
Fats are a healthy part of the daily diet. Fats provide energy, essential fatty acids, and promote the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D and K. As we have discussed, some fatty acids - such as the Trans and saturated variety create more negative issues within the body in comparison to monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
How to Lower Unhealthy Readings - A Better Daily Diet
Keep in mind that it's not only the types of food that you consume each day that make that negative impact - but also the activity level. In addition, losing pounds and getting to a recommended weight can also change numbers favorably.
As to the diet - start by choosing foods that live within the five basic food groups: Vegetables, Grains, Proteins, Fruits and Dairy. Opt for the reduced fat versions, remove visible fat from meat as well as the skin - ditch the cooking oil along with the iron skillet and when preparing your meals - the less processing that you send the food through, the better.
Foods to Avoid, a Healthier Diet
Foods that are best to be avoided - which in turn will assist in lowering unhealthy blood cholesterol readings include those that are not only rich in fatty acids - but also those which are high in sugar content. Why sugary foods? Because most also contain a good amount of dietary fat.
Pastries, pies, cakes, cookies and doughnuts are good examples of the sugary culprits while fried foods are a good example of the fatty culprits. By bypassing these types of foods - you may be avoiding a future heart bypass.
Increased blood cholesterol levels puts the body at greater risk for heart attack, stroke, and some types of cancer (as well as quadruple by-pass surgery).
All dietary fat is not created equal. There are so many terms related to fat that are being tossed about these days: Saturated fats, unsaturated fats - and the list goes on BUT these are the two Fat Boys that we need to get acquainted with, as they are central in better controlling blood cholesterol.
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