If you have high cholesterol or are worried about getting it in the future, rest assured that there are lifestyle changes you can make to help turn your health around. Starting a heart healthy diet is one of the best things you can do to start feeling better, and we’ve rounded up 30 days of cholesterol diet recipes so you can start living a healthier lifestyle today!
What is High Cholesterol?
High cholesterol is a medical condition that increases your risk for heart disease and stroke by clogging your blood vessels. It can become quite dangerous as there are no symptoms for high cholesterol. It is typically diagnosed during routine blood tests and is very serious.
The body only needs a certain amount of cholesterol. A small amount of cholesterol is necessary because the body uses it to build the structure of cell membranes, make hormones and help your metabolism work properly. If there’s too much cholesterol in the bloodstream, the excess may be deposited along the walls of the arteries, including the coronary arteries of the heart, the carotid arteries of the brain, and the arteries that supply blood to the legs and intestines.
What Causes High Cholesterol?
There are a number of factors that contribute to a high blood cholesterol level, including lifestyle choices such as smoking, lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits. Underlying conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes also make you more susceptible to high cholesterol. High cholesterol also tends to run in the family, so if your parents or grandparents have high cholesterol, it makes you more likely to have it too.
What is the Cholesterol Diet?
The cholesterol diet is an eating plan that increases the cholesterol-lowering foods in your diet and decreases or eliminates high cholesterol foods. Unhealthy eating habits are one of the major contributors to high cholesterol and eating the right foods will help you get your health back on track. The cholesterol diet:
- Eliminates saturated and trans fats that raise LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower your HDL (good) cholesterol, such as baked goods, processed meats, French fries, crackers and margarine
- Increases healthy fats such as nuts, avocado, and unsaturated oils like olive and canola
- Limits foods with high cholesterol like shrimp, liver, egg yolks and whole milk dairy products
- Includes plenty of fibre, fruits, vegetables, and fish that are high in omega 3 fatty acids
- Limits salt and alcohol intake
Does the Cholesterol Diet Work?
Eating a diet that will lower your cholesterol is a heart-healthy lifestyle change you should be making ASAP if you have high cholesterol. Eating the right foods will increase your good cholesterol and lower your bad cholesterol, helping you reduce your cholesterol in a healthy, natural way. Keep in mind that dietary changes aren’t always enough, and be sure to check with your health care provider to see if additional measures are needed to lower your cholesterol levels.
