What are the best meals for someone with high cholesterol?
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Oatmeal (has soluable fiber to absorb cholesterol in the gut)...and salmon, tuna or flax seed has omega 3 fatty acids to help control cholesterol.
Ounce for ounce, fat contains over twice the calories that protein or carbohydrates do. So even if saturated fat is the type of fat most likely to raise harmful blood cholesterol levels, you should limit intake of all fats. Eating too much fat, no matter what kind, can make you put on excess weight. Eating too much fat can also increase your risk of certain types of cancer, such as breast or colon cancer.
To limit total fat intake:
Broil, bake, boil, or roast foods rather than fry.
Use non-stick pans or coat pans with a thin layer of non-stick spray.
Add less fat to food during both cooking and eating. Some examples include using jam instead of margarine on toast, a non-fat or low-fat salad dressing instead of a high-fat dressing, lemon juice instead of butter on vegetables, or salsa instead of sour cream on baked potatoes.
Experiment with butter substitutes, spices, and other flavorings as alternative to fat.
Look for low-fat alternatives to foods, such as a bagel instead of a doughnut, pretzels instead of potato chips, or a round steak instead of a t-bone steak
Try new fat-free products like yogurt, cookies, or crackers.
Read labels, which offer excellent information to help you compare fat content of prepared foods.
Reducing Saturated Fat And Cholesterol
To reduce the fat and cholesterol intake in your diet, start with changes that are relatively easy to make. For example, many people find it easy to switch from 2% milk to 1% or skim milk. Once you have adjusted to one change, pick another change to work on.
Here are some simple changes that will help you greatly reduce saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet.
Egg yolks:
Eat no more than three eggs yolks weekly.
Eat as many egg whites as you like - they contain no cholesterol.
Meats:
Buy lean meats such as fish, poultry, veal cutlet, pork tenderloin, or flank steak.
Trim as much fat off meat as possible.
Broil, barbecue, or roast meat on a rack rather than fry them. This allows some of the fat to escape during cooking.
Limit the amount of hamburger you eat, and buy the leanest type available.
Replace high-fat prepared meats like sausage and luncheon meats with lower-fat meats like lean turkey or chicken.
Remove the skin from chicken or turkey before you cook or eat it.
Try to eat fish twice weekly. Fish contains a type of fat called omega-3 fat that may help prevent heart disease.
Dairy products:
Use margarine instead of butter, choosing a margarine that has a liquid oil rather than a hydrogenated oil listed as the first ingredient.
Choose a lower-fat milk. If you use whole milk, switch to 2%. If you use 2%, switch to 1% or skim milk. (All types of milks have the same amount of calcium and other vitamins and minerals.)
Use non-fat or low-fat yogurt.
Use plain non-fat yogurt instead of sour cream.
Cut down on the amount of regular cheeses you eat. Look for lower-fat cheese that contains less than 3 grams of fat per ounce.
Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese on food to give it a cheesy taste. Parmesan cheese is strong tasting, so a little goes a long way.
Tropical oils and processed oils:
Check food labels to see what the main type of fat in the food is. Limit foods that list palm oil, coconut oil, or a hydrogenated oil as one of the first type of fats. (Food labels list ingredients in order from greatest to least by weight.)
Be suspicious of commercial baked goods such as doughnuts, sweet rolls, brownies, and cookies, which are a major source of saturated fat.
Anything pretty much that is low in fats. Lean turkey and chicken breast are a good healthy source of protein. Cereals are good, esp Special K. Fruits and Veggies. You can eat anything though, just keep the fats to the minimum. Don't use oil when you fry. And use fat free dressing in your salads.
Oatmeal, peanut butter toast, cook with light olive oil.
Veggies, fruit..etc
Hold off on the fried foods unless you know what they where fried in. Stay away from fast food joints.
Watch your fat intake---especially whole milk and cheese products. Fruits, vegetables not processed, low sugar (it doesn't have to be diet stuff), a small amount of salt (if you wish to try low salt products or salt free (such as saltine crackers), do so at your own risk. Those things are wretched!
When someone has high cholesterol there are both some foods that you want to avoid and there are also foods that you want to be sure that you add to the diet.
First the foods to avoid.
Cholesterol is mainly found in animal products;meat, eggs, butter, and full fat dairy products. You don't need to eliminate these entirely just choose wisely. When looking for meat choose meat that is lower in fat and avoid fatty meats such as rib eye and corned beef.
If you eat chicken remove the skin and opt for white meat instead of dark (breast is white and drumsticks are dark.
When picking up dairy products chose ones that are labeled low fat or non-fat. If you are not use to non-fat products start with 2% then slowly go down to 1% then fat free. This way you won't really notice a difference.
Butter. Instead of using butter look for new margarines that say "heart healthy" or will help reduce cholesterol. The newer ones really do taste good and you can also cook with them.
Foods to add
Oatmeal. Plain oatmeal is wonderful. The soluble fiber sticks to the cholesterol in your body and helps to whisk it away. Always choose the unflavored type as the flavored are often high in sugar and can have added fat.
Soy.
Soy has been proven to lower cholesterol. Think soy milk, yogurt and ice cream. If you haven't tried soy milk in a while you should know that the flavors have improved and that there is also soy milk in chocolate and strawberry flavors.
Oranges
Oranges are good for lowering cholesterol and if you prefer orange juice look for ones that have "reduce cholesterol" on the label. They are a bit more expensive but worth it.
Cinnamon and niacin supplements
Both can help lower cholesterol.
Soy supplements.
If you prefer not to consume a ton of soy products looks for supplements that can lower cholesterol. They can often lower levels by more than 20%. I have a link to one below that I use.
Nuts
Pistachios are showing great promise in helping to lower cholesterol. Although many people think of nuts being high in fat, some are but they hardly have any cholesterol and can often help lower levels.
100% whole grain breads & bran
Like oatmeal these contain soluble fiber to help rid of the body of cholesterol.
Although veggies won't exactly help to lower cholesterol, they can add flavor to your dinner and help you fell full while enjoying a smaller meat portion. Or better yet, have a few meatless dinners every week make up of vegetables, green salad and pasta.
The more good food that you add into your diet makes it easier not to have meat or meat by-products.
Its amazing how many people here show a complete ignorance on this subject, yet hand out advice with the conviction of an evangelist. Time and time again people jump on their soapbox regurgitating the same incorrect drivel about saturated, or just fats in general, and their affect on cholesterol.
Dietary fat, does not, will not and can not have any direct bearing on blood cholesterol levels and here's why;
When fat is digested in the small intestine it is packed into a lippoprotein called a chylomicron, along with dietary cholesterol. This is how these non water soluble substances are transported via the bloodstream. As the chylomicron travels the body it hands out the lipids, in the form of a triacylglycerols, to , and only to, cells which have the appropriate receptor. Once most of the triacylglycerols are gone, the chlomicrons remnant is absorbed by the liver, thus delivering dietary cholesterol to the liver. This happens within 4 or 5 hours of digestion. After this time there is no sign of the fat you ate in the bloodstream, NONE WHATSOEVER.
On the other hand, a high carbohydrate diet will result in triacylglycerols produced by the liver, which is in response to high blood sugars and low energy demand, are packed into a Very Low Density Lippoprotein (VLDL) along with cholesterol, and sent out via the bloodstream. Again, only cells with the appropriate receptor will receive the triacylglycerols. As the VLDL looses these, it becomes a Intermediate Density Lippoprotein and finally a Low Density Lippoprotein (LDL). An LDL contains mainly cholesteryl esters which are then delivered to cells that will hydrolyse them back into cholesterol. If no cells need any cholesterol, then this will not happen, and the LDLs will persist in the bloodstream.
This shows that it is over consumption of carbs in relation to activity levels that will raise cholesterol levels. Dietary fats utilise a completely different metabolic pathway and simply cannot affect blood lipid or cholesterol levels This is why any study comparing low fat, high carb diets to low carb high fat/protein diets show a better lipid profile for those on the low carb diets. To say otherwise is displaying complete ignorance on this subject
There are many here who don't like to hear this, yet they don't have the knowledge to prove otherwise, or the intelligence and courage to accept that their current beliefs are incorrect. I must admit that every thumbs down without a rebuttal brings a smug smile to my face..
Less than half of your calories each day should be carbs (potatoes, pasta, etc.) and less than 20 gms. a day of saturated fats. Also, my doctor just put me on this:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...
Check this website:
http://goodhealth.isgreat.org/high%20cho...
It's full of information regarding high cholesterol.
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