What foods can help me control my cholesterol levels and maintain heart health?
Just a few simple tweaks to your daily diet can help you get your cholesterol levels under control:
1. Olive oil: Switch to olive oil for cooking. Research has shown that the Mediterranean people consume olive oil and have very low incidence of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Olive oil contains a mix of various anti-oxidants which lower your bad cholesterol (LDL). Use it for your tadka or add it as a dressing to salads. Extra virgin olive oils are even more beneficial as they are less-processed and retain more anti-oxidants than the other varieties.
2. Nuts: Walnuts and almonds are rich in omega three fatty acids and PUFA (poly unsaturated fatty acids) which help reduce LDL cholesterol and keep the blood vessels healthy. A handful of these nuts (unsalted, unfried) should help.
3. Oats: Being high in soluble fibre, oats reduce the absorption of cholesterol (Total & LDL) in your blood. Eating 1 ½ cups of cooked oats with milk and bananas or apples gives you your daily requirement of soluble fibre.
4. Fish: High in omega 3 fatty acids, it helps increase the levels of the good (or HDL) cholesterol.
It is recommended that you have atleast two servings of Salmon (rawas fish), herring (bhing) or mackerel (bangda) per week. For restricting calories, they are best eaten grilled, shallow fried with very little oil or baked.
If you do not eat fish or do not have access to good fish, add ground flax seeds (alsi), pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds (til), soyabean oil, canola oil to your diet. Omega 3 fatty acid supplements are also available.
5. Garlic: Though the cholesterol lowering effects of garlic has been debated in recent times, it has been shown that allicin in the garlic does help.
The Expert’s Thought: Just like the fat you have in your body, cholesterol is also a fat/ lipid that is produced in the liver and its normal levels are necessary for the proper functioning of the body.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:44 pm
Orthorexia” is a neuvo and made up tag for folks who refuse to go along with GMO food, additives, extra sugars and so forth.
Many people try to go raw without knowing what in the world they are doing. Such stubborn fools are more anorexic than anything else. Uncooking is a life style rather than a diet. As you well know, diets tend to fail but ideas and actions flourish.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:44 pm
I didn’t really think people believed that orthorexia existed, just because people solely choose to put healthy foods in their body shouldn’t mean that they are labeled as mentally ill.
My personal belief is that this definition has been created along with many other ‘mental health’ issues to enable pharmacuetical companies to produce drugs for them once they have been listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
April 5th, 2012 at 6:45 pm
I should think differently.
Maybe I can increase my income by applying for disability.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:45 pm
diet most definitely affects inflammation via the Insulin/Glucagon (excess glucose) response and or excess of omega-6 and/or excess of fatty red meat or eggs, etc which will initiate excess bad arachidonic acid with consequent build up of inflammation. For instance if we give a rabbit excess of arachidonic acid it dies within minutes, Re probiotics; no amount of ingestion of same will be of benefit in the presence of “leaky gut”,which must first be repaired to facilitate growth and as Petrina mentioned the “oligosaccharides” are critical !
April 5th, 2012 at 6:46 pm
Geoffrey, given what you’ve said about the insulin/glucagon response, is it possible to measure changes in the inflammatory state as a function of the glycemic index of foods consumed? Also, is your comment about the effect of arachidonic acid on rabbits not open to the same criticism as the original study which gave rise to the fear of dietary cholesterol in humans (where rabbits were fed cholesterol leading to arterial plaque formation)-ie that cholesterol was not a component of a rabbit’s natural diet? As far as I can ascertain, neither is arachidonic acid. Finally, regarding probiotics-could it be argued that by taking foods containing probiotics (eg yoghurts) plus the appropriate oligosaccharide substrates, an individual would not need to consume whole foods containing fibre?
April 5th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
‘Retard’ is just a word. ‘Crip’ is just a word. Words which start with N or K or other alphabet soup and are hurtful are just words too. Wars start with words until they are blows and it is difficult for many people to remember that “sicks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me” because mobs are incited with words and armies led forward with words and people led off to an institution or jail or a firing squad because it all began with words..
April 5th, 2012 at 6:47 pm
I have seen cases of “orthorexia”, primarily with vegans who eat a totally raw diet. I’m not criticizing a raw diet – I think many foods can be enjoyed raw, but folks I’ve seen go this way for long periods of time become malnourished. I promote a whole, fresh foods diet that includes small amounts of animal products, including fats. I believe that fat soluble nutrients as well as minerals have gone missing in the “typical” American diet. And regarding processed foods: yes, cooking could be considered “processing” but I look at it as food that’s been reduced physically and nutritionally from it’s original form, generally packaged with additives, and often fortified. Cereals, breads, pastas, pastries, chips and other snack foods, juices, lunch meats, hotdogs, most boxed and convenient dinner foods, etc are all processed, in my opinion. The best way to avoid processed foods is to buy foods that don’t come in packages and don’t need a label.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:48 pm
I have just caught up with this discussion. A book has already been recommended. I would add another “Put Your Heart in Your Mouth” by Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride. An A5 sized book about 1cm deep which is highly inforamative but also to the point. A wonderful expose of the misinfomation we have all been fed about cholesterol – which is a healer in the body!
April 5th, 2012 at 6:48 pm
I love my cholesterol and like to about 6mmolltr about 220 I think for you yanks because at 80 plus years my brain needs lots and evidence shows that cholesterol levels of 3.0mmol/ltr and below increase the risk of suicide. Prove that high cholesterol is related to heart disease in the elderly and I will donate a sucking pig to charity.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
While watching a program on the irreconcilable differences in General Relativity and quantum physics, I heard a great quote. The physicist said simply, “Nature is smarter than we are.” What we understand about biology is dwarfed by what we don’t know. There are still worlds to discover.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
Cholesterol KILLS 15 Million people worldwide every year..
April 5th, 2012 at 6:50 pm
you are right. Andrew – it’s inflammation that causes cholesterol to go awry, and the more processed foods, flour, and sugar we eat, the more inflammed we are. It’s not the fats, nor is it simply cholesterol. You might consider linking around on the site http://www.spacedoc.com. Dr. Duane Graveline, a former astronaut, flight surgeon, and medical doctor runs it. Maybe this will give you some insight on how we got where we are in terms of cholesterol, and emphasize the fact that cholesterol is a God-given substance that we shouldn’t be tinkering with.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:50 pm
It’s just really too bad that western medicine puts profit before health. One of the greatest health debacles of our time is to encourage eating of low-fat versions of real fat food, and substituting omega 6 vegetable oils for real fats (bring on the inflammation!). I just read a doctor’s recommendation for school lunches in a local publication and this is exactly what it suggests. Everything low fat for kids, egg whites only, and grains instead of any meat. A great recipe for diabetes, obesity, poor brain function, and the development of the chronic diseases! We just don’t “get it”!
April 5th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Studies have shown that staving off heart disease is possible by eating moderately less animal based foods and moderately more plant based foods.Most doctors will tell that cholesterol under 200 is what to aim for but it has been shown 35% of all fatal heart attacks happen to people with a blood cholesterol between 150-200. Blood cholesterol values are obviously not the only risk factor for heart disease but remains a significant one. Blood cholesterol increases with dietary intake of saturated fat, animal protein and dietary cholesterol. In other words, animal foods were linked to higher blood cholesterol while plant foods were linked to lower blood cholesterol.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
Cholesterol is a vital component and the brain and CNS require the most cholesterol in your body. In fact recently FDA recognized the effects of artificially lowering cholesterol via statins and its effects on memory and other mental problems ( http://inutrifit.com/2012/02/fdas-new-statin-safety-guidelines/ ). Cholesterol has been demonized by the money churning big pharma ($26 billion worth of statin drugs sold every year) for obvious reasons. Many recent studies have failed to show any correlation between cholesterol levels and the incidence of heart disease. Like David mentioned earlier half the people that die of heart attacks have low to normal cholesterol levels. So if I were serious about heart health (and health in general), I would stop worrying about cholesterol levels and instead control the intake of refined and processed carbs and simple sugars.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Stop worrying about cholesterol, unless it’s too low. We are so thoroughly brainwashed on this subject. Several large studies now show that low cholesterol in men over 60 is a robust predictor of death. You read that right. Men with the LOWEST cholesterol have roughly double the risk of death, compared to men with the highest total cholesterol.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:52 pm
The Framingham study clearly showed that beyond the age of 60 cholesterol shows an inverse correlation to overall mortality. So if your cholesterol is on the low side you need to seriously worry.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
but the high consumption of any vegetable oil will accelerate the cholesterol level, so better consume all in a moderate amount. Also use blends of oils or change cooking oil every 2-3 months, because most of the vegetable oil dont have all essential fatty acids.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
We really should not be heating olive oil because of it’s low flash point. I do like the “experts” point at the end regarding the need for cholesterol. VERY important. Interesting too is that on pg 51 of the 2010 dietary guidelines is a comparison of the typical western diet and the Mediterranean diet. Yes, they do eat more olive oil, but they also eat more meat and less grains than us, but we’re told the opposite. Go figure…
April 5th, 2012 at 6:54 pm
cholesterol are the precursors of many importance of functional material including female or male hormone and what is important, the precursor of vit D which maintains the bone.we need enough cholesterol.
April 5th, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Roughly half the people who have heart attacks have high cholesterol. The other half have low cholesterol. This, really, is all you need to know about cholesterol.
October 11th, 2012 at 6:01 pm
Sir,
I am giving another choice for updating this article “Cholesterol: All you need to know” Posted on 29 February 2012 by Nitin”, after reading the Book”The Great Cholesterol Lie”, exposed by Dr. Dwight Lundell!
A detailed analysis and report is expected soon.
w. regards,
Jagdish.K. Kochi