Article updated November 2022
If you’ve received unfavorable results from a test that determines your blood cholesterol levels, you unfortunately have to give up certain foods.
But food can also be your ally in the fight for proper cholesterol levels.
High cholesterol is an indication to change eating habits and pay more attention to physical activity.
Fortunately, there is much that can be done to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
What should a diet with high cholesterol look like?
Good and bad cholesterol.
What do you know about this topic?
Dietary cholesterol has an important function in the body, taking part in the production of sex hormones, as well as the production of vitamin D and bile acids.
There are different fractions of cholesterol in the body, which differ in the functions they perform. There is a distinction between total cholesterol, which includes HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.
Good HDL cholesterol transports cholesterol molecules from the tissues to the liver, where it metabolizes them.
Bad LDL cholesterol, on the other hand, is responsible for moving fats the other way, from the liver to the tissues.
LDL levels are an important indicator because elevated levels can contribute to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
There is another fraction of cholesterol – triglycerides.
These provide energy and store energy.
The consequences of elevated cholesterol are not only lipid disorders, but also atherosclerosis.
This is a disease that leads to narrowing of the lumen in the vessels, which impedes the proper flow of blood.
What are the cholesterol standards?
The normal concentration of cholesterol in the blood should not exceed 190 mg/dl.
If there are higher values, it means elevated cholesterol levels in the body.
Standards for the different fractions are different and include:
- HDL levels – a minimum of 40 mg/dl in men and 50 mg/dl in women,
- LDL cholesterol levels below 115 mg/dl,
- Triglyceride levels – between 150 and 200 mg/dl.
What foods are sources of cholesterol?
Cholesterol levels are affected by frequent consumption of certain products.
With high cholesterol and too high LDL fraction, products containing palm oil, trans fats should be excluded from the diet.
This means that burgers, pizzas, casseroles, hot dogs, all instant meals and highly processed products should not be in the diet.
Fatty meats, cold cuts, offal and pate should also be excluded from the list, as their frequent consumption can lead to higher cholesterol levels and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular disease and even heart attack.
How to lower cholesterol?
To lower cholesterol, you need to pay attention to your diet and physical activity.
What lowers cholesterol are omega-3 fatty acids, so it is worth including them permanently in your diet.
They can be found mainly in oily sea fish.
These acids exhibit lipid-regulating properties and help maintain normal cholesterol levels in the body.
It is also important to include unsaturated fatty acids in the diet, which can be found in fats of vegetable origin: olive oil, sunflower oil, grape seed oil.
Particularly noteworthy are monounsaturated fatty acids, the source of which can be nuts, pistachios or almonds.
What diet should I follow when I have high cholesterol?
A diet to reduce cholesterol should be rich in fats of plant origin, vegetables and fruits, as well as products with fiber.
Fatty meats, cold cuts and pates should be excluded from it, as well as products that contain high amounts of trans fats and fats of animal origin.
Margarine or butter should be replaced with vegetable products, which do not negatively affect triglyceride levels and can reduce cholesterol.
We often do not pay attention to how much fat is in our diet.
Saturated fats, present, for example, in meats or animal products, are consumed at breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Such behavior carries the risk of developing lipid disorders and raising cholesterol levels.
What to avoid in a diet to lower cholesterol?
If you have excessively high levels of „bad” LDL cholesterol – low-density lipoprotein that is deposited in the walls of arteries and can block blood flow to the heart and brain – reduce your intake of saturated fats found mainly in red meat and dairy products.
They should make up no more than 10 percent of your daily caloric intake.
Also eliminate trans fats, also known as partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, from your diet.
These mainly synthetic fats are so harmful that the World Health Organization has announced its intention to completely eliminate them from food by 2023 [1].
They are also responsible for high cholesterol.
What should you eat to avoid them?
Fatty dairy products and cholesterol
A cholesterol-reducing diet should not include full-fat dairy products.
Fatty milk, butter, cheese or cottage cheese can promote the raising of total cholesterol.
Pay attention to them and choose lean products that do not negatively affect cholesterol levels.
What else is worth including in the menu for lowering cholesterol?
Beware of processed foods such as cookies, cookies and crackers, and replace unhealthy fats with olive oil.
This is one of the staple ingredients in the Mediterranean diet.
Olive oil is good for the heart and contains hydroxytyrosol, an antioxidant that is worth providing when LDL cholesterol levels are high.
Nuts and almonds also contain healthy unsaturated fats.
However, choose only unsalted ones and eat no more than a handful a day.
Increase the amount of fiber in your diet.
Fiber, especially soluble fiber, binds cholesterol in the digestive tract and promotes its excretion from the body.
Choose healthy sources of fiber, such as whole grains, oats and barley, as well as legumes, fruits and vegetables.
Nuts, cereals and fruits also contain plant sterols and stanols.
These compounds are also worth including in the diet when there are high levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood, as they help maintain normal levels.
It is also worth ensuring that food contains flavonoids.
These are natural plant compounds with antioxidant properties.
They are very commonly found in fruits and vegetables, especially legumes, dried oregano, seeds, red wine or cocoa.
What foods are worth including in the diet when blood triglycerides are high?
Triglycerides are also an important risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
If their blood levels are too high, increase the proportion of omega-3 fats in your diet.
You’ll find them in fish such as salmon, sardines and trout, eggs, hay and flaxseed oil, and walnuts.
Also choose foods with a low glycemic index (GI).
Foods with a high GI, such as white bread and pasta, candy and some fruits, cause a sudden rise in blood sugar and can increase triglycerides.
Choose whole-grain bread and pasta instead.
Also, eat no more than 2-3 servings of fruit, not exceeding a total of half a kilogram per day.
Reach for watermelon, grapefruit, melon, strawberries and cranberries rather than pineapple, mango, bananas or grapes.
Remember that it is unrealistic to change eating habits in a few days.
Besides, too much modification in a short period of time can have a demotivating effect.
Therefore, introduce the new diet plan step by step until you completely change your approach to eating. A balanced diet should be seen as a strategy for health.
It not only has a positive effect on blood cholesterol levels, but also provides vitamins and minerals that enable the entire body to function properly.
Legumes – how do they work on cholesterol levels?
To lower LDL cholesterol, it is worth including legumes in your diet.
They contain dietary fiber, which helps remove cholesterol from the intestines and cleanse them of food deposits. In addition, they contain plant sterols and stanols, which also help lower bad cholesterol.
It is therefore worth including such vegetables as lentils, beans, soybeans, peas and chickpeas in the diet.
Fiber vs cholesterol
Dietary fiber helps reduce cholesterol levels in the body, maintains normal intestinal peristalsis and promotes the cleansing of the intestines from food debris.
A good source of fiber is not only vegetables and fruits, but also whole grain products.
These include oatmeal, as well as bran or wholemeal bread.
It is also worth including in the diet coarse groats (such as buckwheat), which provide large amounts of vitamins and minerals and which can reduce mg cholesterol levels.
Vegetables and cholesterol
What to eat to lower cholesterol?
Vegetables, because they are not only a source of fiber, vitamins and minerals, but also contain pectin, which helps bind cholesterol in the intestines, so that it is not absorbed into the body.
Thus, legumes, zucchini, yams or carrots are recommended for cholesterol reduction.
Can alcohol lower cholesterol?
Alcohol not only does not help lower cholesterol, it can actually raise it.
Frequent consumption of colored drinks or even beer leads to lipid disorders and an increase in triglycerides.
This can be a straight path to elevated cholesterol, so it’s worth limiting alcohol.
How to lower cholesterol with home remedies?
Lowering cholesterol is achieved primarily through a healthy diet.
However, physical activity is also important to improve metabolism and speed up the excretion of unnecessary substances from the body.
Regular exercise (even in the form of walking or marching) regulates cholesterol levels in the body.
According to World Health Organization WHO recommendations, one should move at least 30 minutes a day to maintain good physical condition.