A Lower Cholesterol Diet

December 30, 2009 · Posted in cholesterol · Comment 

A lower cholesterol diet is necessary not only for those at risk of a heart disease, but for practically everyone. This is to prevent the person from being diagnosed with any heart disease, instead of waiting for the symptoms before you start maintaining this kind of diet.

It is easy to follow a low cholesterol diet. Lower your cholesterol by giving up some food that you have always loved – but not completely. This kind of diet does not necessarily mean you have to cut yourself off from all the food that you love.

Manufacturers are becoming more aware of the health concerns of the people. Thus more products are being manufactured which are both low in cholesterol and low in fat.

Cholesterol lowering diets must first and foremost include fruits and vegetables because they are low in calories, fat, and cholesterol. Some even lower the cholesterol levels that are already inside your body – namely fruits such as apricots and apples, and vegetables such as cabbages and sweet potatoes. Fruits and vegetables, in general, contain no traces of cholesterol but provide valuable vitamins and nutrients that your body can use.

Next, try to reduce the consumption of saturated fats. These saturated fats could raise your cholesterol levels into the danger zone, where you would be at risk of getting heart diseases.

Avoid any kind of food which says that it has partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, such as those found in shortenings and margarines. They contain trans-fat, a type of saturated fat that raises the blood cholesterol levels and leads to the formation of a waxy material that clogs the arteries.

When buying oil, you should get olive and canola oil, both of which are high in monounsaturated fat. Alternatively, get vegetable oil, which is high in polyunsaturated fat. These unsaturated fats can lower your blood cholesterol and keep your body healthy.

For your diet, there are certain nutrients that you should look for in your food. One of these is soluble fiber, found in beans and oatmeal. Soluble fiber reduces the level of bad cholesterol in your blood by reducing the absorption of cholesterol in your intestines. You should consume these food several times a week to maximize its effects of decreasing bad cholesterol.

When you eat meat, you should also purchase lean meat. Meat is often considered as an unhealthy food, but if you purchase lean meat, then the fatty part of the meat is disposed of. Without the fatty part, the meat left is low in cholesterol and high in protein. You could also purchase meats which are by themselves much leaner already than other kinds of meat. For example, instead of ground beef for hamburgers, you could use ground turkey meat.

A lowering cholesterol diet is easy. It doesn’t mean you have to give up a lot of food – you can still enjoy the exquisite flavors you have always loved. It is different for each person, but finding the right balance of healthy food for yourself would do nothing but amazing things for your health, so that you can live a longer, happier life.

For more information and help, you might want to visit: lower cholesterol diet.

Vincent Siew markets a product for people who worry about having a stroke or a heart attack because they have high cholesterol like he used to have. Do you know anyone who might like to know about a product like that? Tell him or her to find out more about it today: For more information and ideas, please visit his website at: http://www.thenaturalloweringcholesterol.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/a-lower-cholesterol-diet-1645259.html

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Knowing Your Cholesterol Limits

December 23, 2009 · Posted in cholesterol · Comment 

Everybody has their own normal cholesterol limits. This number is different for each person. Knowing the cholesterol limit for your body would help you manage your body so that you can remain perfectly healthy. With that said, knowing what your limits are can be a difficult task. Every doctor or physician you ask has different views in just how much cholesterol your body can take.

There are actually two types of cholesterol limits that you have to think of. The first type of cholesterol is the low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. What this type of cholesterol does is that it provides cholesterol to the different cells in your body as it moves along the bloodstream. However, this is the bad kind of cholesterol. If at the end of its journey, there is still some LDL cholesterol left, it would deposit itself on the walls of your arteries. This is what leads to blocked or clogged arteries, which is the main cause of strokes and heart attacks. The average number that people should target for the LDL cholesterol in their blood is below 130 mg/dl, or below 130 milligrams per deciliter of blood. Those suffering from a heart and circulatory system condition need to target a much lower number of around 100 mg/dl or lower.

The second type of cholesterol is the high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. This type of cholesterol, on the other hand, gathers the LDL cholesterol that has built up in your bloodstream and safely deposits it in your liver, where it is transformed into bile that your intestines can use in the digestive process. The more you have of this type of cholesterol, the healthier and cleaner your circulatory system would be. The average number that people should target for the HDL cholesterol in their blood is above 40 mg/dl. Above 50 mg/dl would be better.

Another important fact to consider is the cholesterol ratio between LDL and HDL cholesterol. It is important to have a certain ratio to keep a balance inside your body – both cholesterol types have their functions, and you need sufficient amounts for both of them even though one type could be bad for your body if in excess. The ratio to target is above 0.3 for HDL to LDL, with above 0.4 being a better number.

To know the exact levels of cholesterol that you have in your body, you can have a lipid panel or lipid profile reviewed. This blood test reports the amount of the total cholesterol in your body, as well as both LDL and HDL cholesterol levels. For an accurate measurement of cholesterol levels, it is advised to not eat or drink anything besides water for 9 to 12 hours prior to the test.

Now that you know and understand your cholesterol limits, you can check it against the cholesterol levels in your body after the blood test. You can then adjust your diet and lifestyle according to what you need to do to control the cholesterol in your body – to keep yourself healthy.

If that does not make much difference, you might want to try one of the cholesterol supplements called bioslife complete to see if it works for you the way it did for me.

For more information and help, you might want to visit: cholesterol limits.

Vincent Siew markets a product for people who worry about having a stroke or a heart attack because they have high cholesterol like he used to have. Do you know anyone who might like to know about a product like that? Tell him or her to find out more about it today: For more information and ideas, please visit his website at: http://www.thenaturalloweringcholesterol.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/knowing-your-cholesterol-limits-1617107.html

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