6 Foods To Eat & Food To Avoid If You Have High Cholesterol
Dr Livingood
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Millions of prescriptions for cholesterol are filled each year in America. Did you know that you can support your cholesterol naturally through your diet without taking medication?
I’ve had family members who have cholesterol issues, and a grandfather that died of heart failure. I’ve seen the devastating effects of improperly taking care of your heart.
The food we’re putting in our mouth directly impacts the cholesterol that we have, high or low. In this blog, I’m going to break down the 6 food groups that won’t raise your cholesterol and 3 that you should stay away from.
Best Foods For High Cholesterol
Organic Produce
When you’re thinking about eating produce, you should try to eat different colored fruits and vegetables to give your diet variety.
Eating produce is going to add more water, fiber, and minerals into the system which will help support cholesterol levels.
Leafy Greens
Leafy greens contain fiber that will help keep you feeling full regularly between meals.
They can also help to support your blood sugar levels and prevent bad cholesterol from entering the bloodstream.
Cholesterol Superfoods
These foods are superfoods when it comes to reducing cholesterol in your body:
Garlic – Garlic is highly nutritious and has cholesterol-supporting properties that can support heart health.
Turmeric – The root of turmeric is high in quercetin. Quercetin is proven by studies to be a powerhouse when it comes to lowering discomfort and cholesterol in the body.
Grape Seed Extract – Grape seed extract stops the oxidation of cholesterol, which can cause fatty plaque inside of your arteries.
Cholesterol by itself is not the problem. Your liver creates it. 75% of the cholesterol inside of you right now was made by you.
If the cholesterol in your body gets exposed to free radicals, it oxidizes and can create fatty plaque inside of the arteries.
Clean Meats and Oils
Rancid meats and oils increase the amount of cholesterol inside of your body. Conventional meat increases the discomfort in your body, which increases the cholesterol in your system.
Instead, I recommend these cleaner variations of meat:
Beef – Grass Fed
Chicken – Free Range
Fish – Wild Caught
These are going to give you a good ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s, which will reduce the amount of discomfort in the body.
Something like a burger from a fast food joint is going to be a 20:1 ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s. When the animal that you get your food from is sick and inflamed, you will become sick and inflamed.
Your ratio of omega-6s and omega-3s should be closer to 1:1 if you want to reduce discomfort
You should also stay away from rancid oils that will clog up your system, which include:
Vegetable Oils
Cotton Seed Oil
Soybean Oil
High Fiber Protein
Beans are an excellent source of protein and are very high in fiber. Good sources of protein rich beans include:
Black beans
Garbanzo beans
Kidney beans
They also support the heart through magnesium, which is great for your blood pressure and cholesterol.
Nuts and Seeds
Chia and flax seeds are great sources for better cholesterol levels. They contain ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), which raises your HDL (good cholesterol), and have fiber that supports your LDL (bad cholesterol).
Foods to Avoid
Trans Fats and PUFA (Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids)
Trans fats can be found in common foods such as:
Packaged goods
Processed foods
Cookies
Fried foods
Pastries
Donuts
Crackers
You will find trans fats in pre-made foods, at the supermarket, fairs, or fast food restaurants.
We know fried foods are not good for the heart. The ones that haven’t been talked about or highlighted enough are PUFAs, which include:
Canola oil
Corn oil
Soybean oil
Generic vegetable oil
Cotton seed oil
Peanut oil
Margarine
All of these increase discomfort in the system. They’ve been shown to make your cholesterol worse.
Carbs and Sugar
Too many carbs and sugars can raise cholesterol and triglycerides (fat) in your liver.
They also oxidate our cholesterol, which then causes damage in the arteries, leading to artery hardening and plaquing.
Sugar is a massive culprit because it is a free radical inside the body and significantly taxes the liver.
Grains
All grains turn to sugar seconds after they hit your mouth, which can raise your blood sugar levels. Common examples of these grains include:
Rice
Pasta
Wheat
Oats
These grains are stripped of their nutrients and fiber. This removes the cholesterol-supporting effect you would have gotten from them.
They’re also sprayed with pesticides that damage the gut and create discomfort, which can also raise cholesterol levels.
Beta Glucan
If you’re looking for the benefit of something like oatmeal, you can try beta-glucan.
Beta-glucan is a soluble fiber that prevents the body from absorbing cholesterol from food. There is beta-glucan in oatmeal, which is why it works so well when it comes to reducing cholesterol.
Summary
The biggest mistake that I see people make with their cholesterol is that they don’t understand their numbers. They just take their doctor’s word for it or think their high cholesterol number is the only number to be looking at. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
The next article I want you to read will help you understand your numbers. You can also check out my free book so you can find out if you have a cholesterol problem, and what you can do about it.
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