High Cholesterol Foods to Avoid
When people hear the word cholesterol, they think negative thoughts. Actually, cholesterol is not evil. If you didn’t have cholesterol in every cell of your body, you would cease to exist. This is how important this naturally occurring chemical is.
If Cholesterol Does Good Things, Why Do I Need to Watch My Cholesterol Level?
Even the so-called ‘bad cholesterol’, or LDL, is very necessary to human health. The negative health connotations attached to cholesterol only occur when LDL and HDL exist in an unhealthy ratio.
This almost always means an excess of LDL, short for low-density lipoprotein. (Technically it is not even cholesterol, but a cholesterol transport). Excess LDL occurs simply as a result of modern lifestyles; an excess of particular foods and food types, and (to a lesser extent) a lack of exercise, or energy expenditure.
LDL creates plaque buildup when it exists in over-abundance. Your heart has to work harder to do its job than it normally does, and if this condition lasts for a long time, an unnaturally high and unnaturally healthy LDL level can create heart problems like stroke, heart attack and other coronary diseases.
Processed Food and LDL
Unfortunately, a great many of the foods that contain an excess of LDL are very attractive to our taste buds. Food manufacturers have capitalized on this, creating and synthesizing additives that super-excite our taste buds and keep us coming back for more.
Actually, a great many of these are not really ‘foods’, in the sense that they were once a plant or animal that would form part of our natural diet, or what would be termed ‘whole foods’. They are simply chemical compounds that can make some of what we eat almost irresistible.
“Bad Cholesterol” Foods to Avoid
Limit or entirely steer clear of the following foods that ramp up LDL levels, and you will avoid the plaque buildup that can lead to so many heart problems.
” Saturated fats, like butter, palm oil, lard and bacon grease
” Entirely avoid synthetic trans fats, commonly found in baked goods, snack crackers, chips, shortenings and hard margarine, since they do serious damage to the human body and mind
” Cut back on how many deli meats you eat as well as processed meats, like hot dogs, sausage, baloney, corned beef, pastrami and ground meat
” Dairy milk products which contain more than 1% fat should be limited or avoided
” Avoid fast foods and fried foods
Make Good Food a Habit
There are specific foods that can lower LDL cholesterol, and some that will massively increase it. However, rather than micro-focusing on particular foods, making better choices when it comes to food types will give a better outcome, and require less diligence and label-reading.
Replace the above unhealthy foods with more fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and berries. Eat plain cuts of meat rather than processed meats. Forego sauces. If a plate of meat and vegetables seems tasteless to you, it means you have allowed your taste buds to be hijacked.
Retrain your tastes (and you mind), and make conscious food choices based on health and nutrient value, instead of solely on taste.
You will simultaneously lower your bad cholesterol level while increasing the amount of healthy cholesterol in your body. This will keep your heart happily ticking along, and help you avoid the evils of an unnaturally high LDL cholesterol level.
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