Most of the foods that are available today are high in cholesterol. Cholesterol has been a sensitive issue for the past few decades. Understanding the impact of cholesterol in general and high cholesterol in particular is important to maintain our health as well as our quality of life.
Health magazines and sites warn you about the dangers of cholesterol. They say that high levels of cholesterol in your diet can and do lead to serious heart problems like strokes, heart attacks, heart disease, and artery disease. These serious ailments and conditions are further aggravated if you smoke, or suffer from hypertension and obesity, or have a hereditary condition.
The thing to understand is that when we speak of cholesterol, we are actually speaking of three different things: good cholesterol (HDL), bad cholesterol (LDL), and triglycerides. Triglycerides are not really cholesterol but are very intimately associated with regular cholesterol. Now not all these things are unhealthy or disease causing. In fact the body requires cholesterol and triglycerides too. The trick is in identifying the good ones and including them in your daily diet, and simultaneously avoiding the unhealthy ones. Fish cholesterol and triglycerides is good. Omega-3 fats found in a number of fish are recommended by physicians and nutritionists for patients suffering from diseases caused by cholesterol, because Omega-3 actually helps to reduce the level of bad cholesterol.
The food containing cholesterol is not always to blame for cholesterol related problems. The way the food is cooked, the medium used to cook the food, and even the foods eaten along with basic food are all contributory factors to high levels of bad cholesterol. Ignorance of the facts about cholesterol and how they affect our health has often led to ridiculous situations about certain foods. Once upon a time eggs were a considered a must-have food for proper health; then it was discovered that eggs were rich in bad cholesterol, and thenceforth eggs were banished from the breakfast, lunch and dinner tables. Now we are advised to have the whites of the eggs but to stay away from the yolks!
So now you are careful about eating eggs. You have restricted to one poached egg. But are you looking at what you're having along with the egg? Bacon and cheese and sausages, with thick slices of white bread liberally coated with butter! The egg isn't going to harm you, but those side helpings definitely are! Once again the point is that instead of adopting a policy of exclusion of a specific food, we should have a more holistic approach to the entire meal.
In general you should avoid greasy foods which are fried or deep fried. You take a perfectly healthy, non-cholesterol-aggravating eggplant, then you coat it in batter and deep fry it that's a perfect recipe for a whole slew of cardio-vascular problems! Yes, there are some foods which are bad for your heart which you must avoid. All animal products like meat, poultry, dairy produce and egg yolks are known contributors to high cholesterol levels in the blood. So go easy on those red meats, for your heart's sake!
Apart from keeping a watch on the cholesterol in foodstuffs, you should also keep tabs on the saturated fats that you consume. Saturated fats have an effect on the way the liver produces cholesterol. Too much saturated fat causes the liver to increase production of LDL and triglycerides which coat and ultimately block the arteries.
There is no sense in banning specific food items from your diet. It makes more practical sense to maintain a moderate approach. Have everything, but in moderation. Keep a strict vigil on what you eat and how it is cooked. A fresh potato salad is good but French fries is not! Choose to grill your food rather than fry it. Have plenty of fresh vegetables. These very ordinary precautions will help to keep your heart beating perfectly for many, many years!
Did you know there are ways to go about lowering cholesterol naturally without drugs? You can do it if you know what foods to consume. And you can find a diet for lowering high cholesterol by going to www.reduce-high-cholesterol.com, a website designed to help you live a lengthy and heart healthy life.
