Reducing Cholesterol Through Diet

Lack of exercise, weight control, hereditary factors and smoking. All of these are factors that can affect cholesterol levels in your body. In some cases, dietary cholesterol does play a great part, although cholesterol is not primarily affected by the foods we eat.

In order to keep your total fat consumption (saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated) to fewer than 30 percent of your daily intake of calories, you might need the help of a low-fat, low cholesterol diet. It is also very important for you to remember that the cholesterol intake should not be more than 300 milligrams per day. Whole milk, butter, hydrogenated oils, chocolate shortenings - all of these have a high concentration of saturated fats and should not, by all means exceed one third of your total fat consumption if you suffer from high blood cholesterol.

However, to reduce the total fat and cholesterol, you must limit your consumption of meats such as pork, tongue, liver and pork. In addition to all this, avoid friend foods, nuts and cream, cheese and try to not eat more than 3 eggs per week. Use skim milk and eat meatless meals several times a week, and include at least one fish dish in your diet.

Whenever you go shopping for food look at the package label of the foods you buy. Buy only foods that contain 3 grams of fat or less per serving. It has been shown that cholesterol can be lowered with the help of water-soluble fibers. This fiber can be found in foods such as oat, corn bran, apples and other fruits that contain pectin, beans and legumes, and in guar which is used as a thickener. The phospholipids Lecithin has not yet been confirmed as a reducer of blood cholesterol level, although it has been highly touted by the media and health food stores.

If you are overweight, you might try losing weight by including some aerobic exercises in your routine. These aerobic exercises help raise those desirable high density lipoproteins or HDL cholesterol (good) levels. You can decrease your cholesterol levels by up to 15 percent through diet and exercise alone.

Guidelines:

- Try eating less than 300 mg of cholesterol per day

- Eat about 50 to 60 percent of your daily calories from carbohydrates

- Always eat less than 30 percent of your total daily calories from fat

- Your caloric intake should be adjusted so that you achieve or maintain a desirable weight