If you’ve been diagnosed with high cholesterol levels in the past, and are looking for diet and lifestyle tips to keep your good HDL cholesterol level up and bad LDL cholesterol level down, or you’ve just had your vascular health check at your GP surgery and discovered that your cholesterol is higher than it should be, then you’ve clicked into the right place.
Eating the right kinds of food can go a long way to helping manage your cholesterol and keeping your heart healthy. The good news is that doesn’t mean boring, flavourless meals. It just involves a few adjustments and being more careful about the foods that you choose. Controlling your bad LDL cholesterol levels and keeping your good HDL cholesterol levels high doesn’t have to be complicated. Just remember to stick to few simple guidelines. For example, many people still think that they need to cut down on their intake of foods that naturally contain cholesterol, such as eggs, liver, kidney and shell fish.
Health experts now agree that the biggest dietary influence on cholesterol is saturated fat, not dietary cholesterol. Saturated fat is found in foods that come from animals such as fatty meats, butter, cheese, cream and whole milk. It’s also hidden in things like cakes and biscuits, takeaway meals, pastries, sausages, burgers and meat pies.
Get label savvy. The Foods Standards Agency advises that a lot of fat is 20 grams or more per 100 grams, and a lot of saturated fat is 5 grams or more per 100 grams.
So when cooking replace saturated fat with fats high in monounsaturates, like olive and rape seed oils, or choose fats high in polyunsaturates, like sunflower, corn or soya oil. If you want to eat meat keep it lean and go for skinless poultry.
Try to stay as close to your ideal body weight as possible for your height. If you’re overweight or have excess fat around your waist, often referred to as apple shaped, you may have higher levels of bad cholesterol than people of the same weight who are pear shaped and carry the extra weight on their hips.
Eat plenty of different coloured fruits and vegetables, at least five portions a day.