High Cholesterol Levels

High cholesterol levels can result in issues with your heart and also your metabolism. if you’ve been diagnosed with high cholesterol there are guidelines you can take to avoid having excess cholesterol in your daily diet.

Odds are if you’ve been diagnosed with high cholesterol levels, your physician is concerned about your health. There are 3 forms of cholesterol in the body: LDL (low-density lipoproteins), HDL (high-density lipoproteins) and triglycerides. Preferably you want your total cholesterol number to be below 150. High levels of LDL and triglycerides can be related to heart disease, stroke risk and also diabetes.

In individuals with high cholesterol levels, the LDL and/or triglycerides are extremely high to be safe. LDL plaques can be sticky. They stick to the vessel walls, narrowing the lumen. The blood is under high pressure to get traveled thorough those vessels and supply the body with oxygen. These plaques can break free and lodge in other parts of the body creating harmful embolisms. Thrombosis can also stop blood from moving to the extremities and can be quite painful.

However, you can manage your cholesterol levels with diet and medication. Even with medication, if your cholesterol numbers remain high it may be caused by your diet. Below are a few ideas for eating and shopping that will help you to reduce your cholesterol.

• Check the labels – Most of us believe that if the label shows “low fat” that it is truly low fat. Even so, evaluate the composition of fat that remains. Higher amounts of saturated fat are not healthy for the body. We already get too much of this in fast foods.

Additionally look at the serving size. If you’re having 5 crackers and getting 8 grams of fat, in that case your percentage of fat to calories is just too high to be worth eating those meals. Think about the cholesterol amount. We quite often ignore this since most foods contain little to none. Nevertheless, some foods have a reasonable amount of it per serving and need to be looked at.

• Keep away from animal protein – Although animal products are amongst the best sources of protein, they aren’t the only source. Opt for lean poultry or seafood which is rich in healthy fats. There are plenty of saturated fats in red meat and chicken with skin.

• Watch whole milk – Milk contains milk fats. Skim is the best to drink as there are zero milk fats in it. However, if you drink milk, even a reduced fat milk is much better than whole.

• Dairy products – Butter might be alright for cooking or sautéing food, but not as a main ingredient. This includes ice cream, heavy cream and cream cheese.

Additionally, there are foods that may not contain high levels of cholesterol, but tend to raise LDL cholesterol. These foods are high in saturated fat and trans fats and therefore are better left alone.

Have you been trying to lower your cholesterol levels? Examine the food labels to help get the details you need. Afterward, choose your fresh foods and meats properly in order to avoid adding more cholesterol into your diet.