Guide to low cholesterol foods

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s June 2006 statistics, the leading health risk for both men and women in the U.S. is heart disease. One of the known culprits of heart disease is cholesterol – specifically ‘bad’ cholesterol. So for health-conscious individuals, it is helpful to know the sources of low cholesterol foods. Below is a short guide to low cholesterol foods – where to get them and how:

1. Consume plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Aside from having low calorie and fat content, fruits and vegetables also contain vitamins and minerals like antioxidants that can help the body function better. That is why fruits and vegetables almost always top any list of low cholesterol foods.

2. Moderate your saturated fat intake.

Foods that have high saturated fat are greatly linked to the development of heart ailments. Lower your consumption of these high cholesterol foods. If you can, completely eliminate them from your diet.

3. Know your trans-fatty acids.

Commonly found in margarines and shortenings with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, trans-fatty acids contain LDL (commonly known as the bad cholesterol) and therefore can raise blood cholesterol levels.

4. Load on whole grains.

Replace white flour with whole grains, as the former is loaded with carbohydrates which can also raise cholesterol levels. Also, excessive intake of carbohydrates leads to weight gain and high glucose levels. In contrast, whole grains like wheats and oats are high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals than white flour.

5. Choose your dairy.

Instead of your usual regular or full-fat dairy product, choose the low fat or skim variety as they are low cholesterol foods as well.

6. Go lean.

Not all meat should be banned to achieve a healthy diet. Lean meats from turkey and chicken can be used in place of red meat. Experiment by substituting cholesterol-laden foods with low cholesterol foods.

7. Take supplements.

If you are not confident that your daily diet is giving you all the nutrients your body needs to combat cholesterol, then consider taking supplements. Ask your doctor before taking any (especially if you are already taking other medications, which may be incompatible with some supplements).

Remember that dietary supplements belong to an unregulated industry in the U.S., so its safety cannot be guaranteed through government product testing. Some supplement manufacturers add fillers like starch and sugar to their products. In order to ensure your safety, buy your supplements only from pharmaceutical GMP-compliant manufacturers.

Recommended Cholesterol formula

One company that we personally use called Xtend-Life Natural Products produce a cholesterol formula with powerful nutrients such as Policosanol, Guggulipid, Coenzyme Q10, and vitamins B6, B12, and Folic Acid to lower homocysteine, along with many other important heart healthy nutrients that have been indicated to help with high cholesterol symptoms. These nutrients are renowned for lowering your cholesterol levels.

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