A Cholesterol Diet For Healthy Living

A cholesterol diet is for people who have a cholesterol reading that is higher than the range that is considered normal. Having a high cholesterol reading for an extended period of time can lead to an increased risk of heart disease. There are many new diet guidelines for such people, because the risks of heart disease increase if the cholesterol is not lowered. 

Types of Cholesterol

The body needs cholesterol in order to make bile salts, hormones and vitamin D.  The liver is largely responsible for producing cholesterol.  There are two main types of blood cholesterol:  Low density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol and high density lipoprotein or HDL cholesterol. The LDL type of cholesterol is considered to be bad, because if there are high amounts of it, the artery wall gets filled with the deposits and may eventually block the flow of blood. This is found in saturated fats and fatty acids and should be avoided. The job of the good HDL is to carry excess cholesterol away to the liver, from where it can be excreted.  A cholesterol diet should contain soluble fiber which is found in fruits, oats and barley which can help to increase the HDL cholesterol and help to remove LDL cholesterol.

Try More Seafood

Seafood does not increase the cholesterol in the blood, because it is dietary cholesterol. If the seafood is pre-packaged or processed, it may contain shortening or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (also known as trans fats). Then the cholesterol diet contains saturated fats and is harmful. If your cholesterol diet contains nuts and fish, its content has monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats.  This can definitely help to lower the LDL level and is good for your health. 

Is Eating Eggs Bad ? 

It has been proved that healthy adults can enjoy an egg every day as a part of their cholesterol diet.  This does not increase any risk for heart disease.  There is hardly any link between eating eggs and developing heart disease among healthy people.  However, if you already have high cholesterol or have been known to have risks for heart diseases, it is recommended not to include more than two egg yolks per week in your cholesterol diet.  Actually you can include as many egg whites as you like in your diet. 

Eggs provide a lot of nutrition and contain folate, vitamin B 12, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.  Eggs are also a good source of lutein, which is a type of antioxidant.  In fact the nutritional value of an egg is determined only by the chicken feed.  If the feeds of organic eggs or cage-free eggs are the same as the regular varieties, the nutritional value also remains the same. 

Summary

In order to have a diet to lower cholesterol, it has been observed that a combination of cholesterol-lowering foods works. Hence if people eat a healthy plant-based diet which is high in cholesterol-lowering foods, it can make an ideal cholesterol diet.  The diet would include soy protein, fiber, almonds and spreads with plant sterols. Plant sterols reduce the amount of cholesterol that is absorbed into the intestine.

In any case a cholesterol diet high in soy, fibers like soluble fiber found in oats and barley, nuts in combination with fruits and vegetables always has a beneficial effect on individuals.