Best Nutritional Habits to Lower Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a word that we have been conditioned to believe is tantamount to coronary artery disease and imminent death. But the fact is that we need cholesterol to facilitate several bodily functions that are necessary to maintain good health ie: maintain healthy cell walls, hormone production, manufacture of vitamin D and bile acids which are necessary for fat digestion. We run into problems when there is an abundance of cholesterol. As with everything else, excess leads to negative circumstances such as coronary artery disease which may lead to heart attack and stroke. Here are some simple nutritional habits that we can all adopt in order to stop and actually reverse this process.

Eat a diet that is nutritionally balanced. As previously stated too much of anything is never a good thing. Everyone will benefit from eating a diet that has enough fruits, vegetables, legumes, meat, dairy, nuts, and starches. Instead of focusing on eliminating any single macronutrient (fat, protein, carbohydrate) shift your focus to consuming a diet that has fairly equal components of all three. For example: instead of having bread sticks with a plate of pasta (all carbohydrate with very little healthy fat, protein or fiber) opt for a piece of meat, with a serving of vegetables and a whole grain pasta.

Add foods that are rich in EFA’s (essential fatty acids) to your diet. These fats are called “essential” because the body can not manufacture them so they must be consumed. They are necessary to proper bodily function on many different levels; everything from proper metabolism to brain function and mood health, so it is vital that we consume them.

Consume foods that are rich in fiber, particularly soluble fiber. These foods will reduce the absorption of LDL (which is the “bad” cholesterol you want to keep low) into your bloodstream. 5 to 10 grams or more of soluble fiber a day decreases your total and LDL cholesterol.

Eliminate processed and fast foods from your diet altogether. These junk foods are chemically altered and full of simple sugars and the types of fats that will promote an over abundance of cholesterol. This will lead to your arteries becoming clogged slowly and eventually cutting off the flow of oxygen-rich blood to every part of your body. The end result will facilitate a stroke and/or heart attack.

Drink water. This final suggestion should be a given, however many people don’t realize just how much sugar, fat and chemicals they are adding to their overall calorie consumption on a daily basis. These calories range the gamut from a few alcoholic beverages to the “fake fat” non-dairy creamers they put into their coffee, from all of the juice to all of the artificially sweetened sodas. All of these beverages have the potential to have a tremendous impact on an individual’s cholesterol and overall health. Yet so many people choose to ignore this most basic dietary necessity opting instead for everything except the only fluid their body really needs: water.

These recommendations come from someone who practices what she preaches. Hence I’ve never had an issue with high cholesterol or any of the other complications arising from such. We also successfully reduced my husband’s high cholesterol and high blood pressure combining these simple dietary changes with an appropriate exercise program without the use of prescription drugs even though both his blood pressure and cholesterol were at a point where he was prescribed drugs to achieve regulation of both. Our doctor was impressed that we were able to lower his cholesterol and blood pressure without the use of medication.

Resources:

http://ehealthmd.com/library/lowercholesterol/LC_whatis.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cholesterol/CL00002


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