There are many reasons why your cholesterol levels may be high. Genetic heredity, diet, and lifestyle all play a part in determining how much cholesterol is present in your blood stream.
If your cholesterol readings are high the doctor’s first step, almost always, will be to put you on a modified diet designed to bring your cholesterol into line. The goals of a cholesterol diet are many and include:
Weight Reduction if you are over your optimum weight. Those people who have a weight problem are frequently at higher risk and have higher cholesterol levels than individuals with optimum weight. Limit the amount of foods that are high in saturated fat. One of your goals should be to reduce the total amount of fat in your diet. By limiting all fat you will also limit the amount of saturated fats. And, since fats are the most concentrated source of calories limiting total fat intake will also reduce the number of calories you eat each day. Increase the amount of foods with complex carbohydrates. Fruits, vegetables, pasta, cereals and rice are all good sources of both starch and fiber (complex carbohydrates). If these foods are eaten plain, are very low in saturated fats and are also very good sources of minerals, vitamins and dietary fiber. Limit the amount of foods with high levels of cholesterol. Although cholesterol is a natural substance and is required for overall health, the western diet is much too heavy in high cholesterol foods. Generally, any food that is an animal product will have high levels of cholesterol including dairy products and fish. Meats that come from animal organs, such as liver, and egg yolks are particularly high in cholesterol and should be avoided.
If, after a period of time, a cholesterol lowering diet is not effectively reducing your cholesterol, your doctor may chose to add a cholesterol lowering medication to augment your diet.
You may also want to add some cholesterol lowering foods to your diet as well. Foods such as Oatmeal, apples, hard nuts such as walnuts, Olive Oil, and Pears are all effective in helping to lower LDL levels.
Another option is to add the whole food supplement Mila to your daily diet as well.
By: Jesse L Moore
