A Low Cholesterol Diet Plan can help reduce one of the most important risk factors for coronary heart disease – a high level of cholesterol. Especially in combination with cholesterol supplements, a low cholesterol diet plan can be a very effective method to help not just to reduce your cholesterol levels but also to keep them under control.
Cholesterol and Diet
Cholesterol in the body comes from two sources: we produce it and eat it. Our liver manufactures about 75% of it from various nutrients and especially from fats.
That is why a Low Cholesterol Diet Plan is the bedrock not just for people who want to reduce cholesterol naturally but also for those who want to control their cholesterol levels or want to prevent it from rising. I shall return to this point shortly.
Cholesterol is a fatty substance in the blood and plays a vital role in how cells work in our body. There are two types of protein that carry cholesterol in the bloodstream:
High cholesterol levels, especially if they go undetected, can be a silent killer. “How do you lower cholesterol?” is a vital question for your health for which you must find an answer.
One thing is certain; the answer to this question will have a significant impact on your lifestyle. It most likely will change what you eat, what you drink and the overall lifestyle you are used to.
The first step should always be to consult a suitably qualified medical practitioner. This will tell you how high your cholesterol levels are and help you understand what you need to do to lower and then control these levels. I assure you, the way you have been living will have to change; otherwise you may find that you have to deal with serious health problems.
Usually people develop high cholesterol levels as a consequence of no or too little exercise, of eating the wrong things, especially too much fat and no or too little fruit and vegetables, and of drinking too much alcohol. Smoking is another factor that weighs in here. Read the rest of this entry
It is obvious but all too often ignored: People with high levels of cholesterol should follow a diet for high cholesterol. In general terms, this diet will help them reduce cholesterol naturallybut more specifically, it aims to significantly
reduce their levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol as well as
Let Food Be Your Medicine, Not Medicine Your Food (Hippocrates)
High cholesterol levels, more specifically high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels are a major contributor to heart disease. By integrating foods to lower cholesterolin a low cholesterol diet plan you can easily take charge and, in many cases start to lower cholesterol naturally. This will help you not just to reduce cholesterol naturally but also to control your cholesterol levels in the long run. Of course, you should always consult a health professional if you fear that your “bad” cholesterol levels are excessively elevated.
It is now generally accepted what a “heart healthy” diet is and that a diet for high cholesterol must be part of it. Most people won’t even be aware that nutritional guidelines for healthy living automatically embrace lots of foods to lower cholesterol. These guidelines are now pretty much universal and include:
Eat less fat. Drastically reduce your consumption of saturated fats, and cut out trans fats (“hydrogenated” vegetable oils). Saturated fats can increase total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Replace these with mono- and polyunsaturated fats.
Substitute meat with lean meat, poultry or fish
Increase your consumption of fruit and vegetables.
Replace refined carbohydrates in your diet for high cholesterol with complex carbohydrates. Read the rest of this entry
In the article Foods To Lower Cholesterol, I presented a general overview of foods that are heart healthy and play an important role in a low cholesterol diet.
Here, in the second part, I’ll go into detail about some of the “superfoods” that have been shown to really help reduce cholesterol naturally. Of course, they have many other health benefits besides. I won’t go into these here because my aim and focus is to help you choose the right nutrition to help control your cholesterol levels and to create your low cholesterol diet plan.
You will see that I have been careful in the description of the health benefits of these foods that lower cholesterol. It is best not to rely on just one of these but to keep to a varied and healthy diet plan. Mixing colors is a great guide: it will give you a variety of phyto-nutrients, the plant based nutrients that are so vital for our health. Your safest bet is to integrate these foods in the general guidelines of my previous article.
In the article Foods To Lower Cholesterol, I presented a general overview of foods that are heart healthy and help lower cholesterol.
Here, I carry on from the first part, Foods To Lower Cholesterol – A to K, to go into detail about some of the “superfoods” that have been shown to really help reduce cholesterol. Of course, they have many other health benefits besides, which I won’t go into here as my main aim is to help you with the information that will empower you to control your cholesterol levels and to create your low cholesterol diet plan.
It is best not to rely on just one of the foods that lower cholesterol but to keep to a varied and healthy diet plan. Mixing colors is a great guide: it will give you a variety of phyto-nutrients, the plant based nutrients that are so vital for our health. Your safest bet is to integrate these foods in the general guidelines outlined in Foods To Lower Cholesterol.
In previous articles we discussed the use of Foods To Lower Cholesterol. Cholesterol Supplements take this a significant step further.
You can only eat so much before you reach your limit. It may not always be possible to obtain the necessary cholesterol lowering nutrient levels through your food. In these cases, cholesterol supplements do precisely what they are meant to do: they supplement your normal nutritional intake.
Obviously, we are talking here about natural cholesterol supplements and not medication. These supplements provide you with concentrated plant extracts or oils that, if taken in the correct quantity, help you control your cholesterol levels. Taken at sufficient levels, some plant extracts can be as effective as prescription drugs. However, cholesterol lowering supplements are nutritional supplements. They should not be used to replace drugs without consulting a suitably qualified medical practitioner first.
In this article we look at single cholesterol supplements. Cholesterol supplements in the form of compounds have a separate section on this website. Read the rest of this entry
High cholesterol levels, especially if they go undetected, can be a silent killer. “How do you lower cholesterol?” is a vital question for your health for which you must find an answer.
