If you have high cholesterol and want to lower it, you may consider changing your diet. There is no shortage of diets on the market today to help you do this.
You can lower your cholesterol by eating foods which include more plant-based foods. Foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes are great excellent substitutes for high cholesterol foods. Choose foods like cereals, breads, rice, pasta, and other grains, as well as dry beans and peas. These are high in starch and fiber and low in saturated fat and calories. These kinds of foods naturally contain a low amount of fat and cholesterol and should be added to your menu; but some bakery breads and sweet bread products that are made with high-fat, high-cholesterol milk, butter, and eggs should be consumed sparingly.
Six to eleven servings of foods from this group each day is recommended. People who have a low HDL (the "good" cholesterol), should keep their carbohydrate intake below the maximum of 60 percent of total calories. Too many carbohydrates will force your liver to increase its production of cholesterol resulting in high cholesterol rather then decreasing the cholesterol in the blood.
If you follow a diet regimen that allows low animal product intake, your cholesterol levels should improve. A lot of animal products are high in cholesterol and are high in saturated fats. Saturated fats will actually raise your blood cholesterol level more than simply eating cholesterol itself. Red meat with visible fat, organ meat, processed meat like bologna and salami, duck, and goose are an example of some foods that are really high in saturated fats and cholesterol. Foods that are made from animals like butter, egg yolks, cheese and even ice cream are also high in cholesterol and saturated fats. Consuming excess animal products of this type will prevent you from lowering your cholesterol level.
Another diet avenue that you can consider taking to lower your cholesterol is to decrease the amount of trans fat you consume. Although saturated fats do increase your bad cholesterol trans fats will do this as well. Trans fat will also lower your HDL levels. This is the good cholesterol. Look at the ingredient list on the food label to see if the food product has trans fats. Trans fat containing foods usually have words printed on the label like shortening, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, or hydrogenated vegetable oil. The ingredients are listed on the label in descending order of predominance. Close to the end of the list you will find the smaller amounts of trans fat. You can also look on the label under "fat". The amount of trans fat that is contained in the product is often listed just after the saturated fat. Trans fat is found in foods like salad dressing, vegetable shortening, sweets, baked goods, fried foods, and other processed foods. When trying to lower your cholesterol, these types of foods should be avoided.