If you are one of the millions of people who suffer from high cholesterol you are at an increased risk for a number of life threatening conditions such as heart disease. The first thing your doctor or any other health care professional will recommend is a lifestyle change based around a diet of foods low in cholesterol. This change in diet will require a certain mindset in that you will have to make a dedicated effort to make the changes necessary to restore yourself to a more healthy state.
Finding low cholesterol foods at the local market is not difficult once you get the hang of it, but to do this you will have to make a concerted effort to learn about the cholesterol and fat content of foods. It is also important to remember that how you prepare your food can also have an impact on blood cholesterol levels.
What possible way can food preparation have on the amount of cholesterol in that food, you ask? There have been numerous studies done on how different nutrients in food affect cholesterol levels in the body. What medical science has found is that foods that are high in cholesterol do not necessarily mean that blood cholesterol levels will rise if you eat them. The nutrient that has the biggest affect on blood cholesterol is fat, and more specifically saturated fat and trans fat. In fact these two forms of fat are considered a higher risk for cholesterol in the body then foods that actually contain high amounts of cholesterol. This does not mean you can eat these types of food with abandon, as with most things moderation is the key.
One example of this phenomenon is the egg. Egg yolks are notoriously high in cholesterol, so much so that many people separate the egg whites from the yolk before using them to cook with. But eating a whole egg by itself does lead to any noticeable rise in blood cholesterol levels. Add in some bacon or sausage and cook those eggs up in grease or oil of some kind and blood cholesterol levels shoot up.
The same thing applies to fried foods. Chicken or fish are good sources of lean protein with minimal amounts of fat. The moment they are battered and fried though their ability to raise cholesterol levels is greatly increased. This is why the way you prepare your food is half the battle.
When grocery shopping it pays to read the labels and see how much cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans fat is in the foods you buy. By doing this you can get a good feel for what you should and shouldn't buy in your fight to lower your cholesterol. There are also a myriad of books and internet sources that have lists of foods low in cholesterol and the recipes to prepare them in a healthy fashion.
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