Diet For Lowering Cholesterol

Diet For Lowering Cholesterol

A diet for lowering cholesterol is crucial to your health, especially the heart. This article discusses some of the problems that can occur with high cholesterol along with other helpful ideas to lower your cholesterol. Diet isn't just about your eating habits.

High cholesterol can lead to clogged arteries, not only in the heart, but in the carotid artery. (Located in both sides of our neck) Any clogging of arteries can lead to heart attacks or strokes, which in turn can leave someone paralyzed, very ill (bed ridden), or it can lead to death. It is very important to follow a diet.

One way to lower your cholesterol is changing your eating habits. This can be done by taking out the foods that are high in cholesterol. One food that comes to mind is hot dogs. These are loaded with cholesterol. Steak is another food that is high in cholesterol. When high cholesterol foods are eaten, it takes longer to digest them, causing the body, and the heart, to work harder in the digestion process, but along the way, as we continue to eat these foods, our arteries can begin to clog. Cheese is loaded with cholesterol, too, and is almost everyone's favorite food, and comes in many forms, solid, sliced, shredded, etc. Taking out high cholesterol foods is a great start to lowering cholesterol.

Taking a nutrition class, offered at most hospitals, is a great idea, too. I attended one before and I can remember the instructor saying that a man with diabetes who is trying to lower his cholesterol should only have a piece of steak the size of his wife's palm of her hand. This is a good rule to go by for anyone. Some people get very upset about this portion of steak that they should eat, but there other things that can be included in a meal, such as vegetables, salad, and bread (or a roll) that will fill you up and you will eat less cholesterol.

Another great thing to do is to exercise. Exercise can be considered a diet, too. It goes along with your food diet. Now, when we talk about diet, we do not mean to fasting or barely eating. That will counteract any efforts attempted to lower cholesterol and cause other health issues. Start out slowly, by doing a little bit of exercise each day, and eating better food choices.

Some of the best foods for lowering cholesterol are chicken, turkey, and fish, as far as meats go. For milk, you can start out slowly with that, too. Try buying milk that is lower in fat than what you already drink, and eventually, you can go to a lower fat content of milk in time.

There are many diets for lowering your cholesterol, but the most important ones are taking out as many of the high cholesterol foods that you can, and having a daily exercise routine. Always talk to your doctor about any diet for lowering cholesterol that you want to begin, and have regular blood work done to check your cholesterol.