Reducing Your Cholesterol
by Haley Cooke | April, 12, 2023
If you have recently di
scovered that you need to work on your cholesterol or have been trying to work on it for quite some time, this blog will be great for you!
To start off, there are two specific eating plans I can recommend a person to follow to assist you along the way. Either of these plans will be a great start to better health. I will give you a brief summary of the two below, however personally reach out if you want either of the actual plans mentioned below.
DASH eating plan:
*Emphasizes vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
*Includes fat-free or low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and vegetable oils.
*Limits foods that are high in saturated fat. These foods include fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, and tropical oils such as coconut, palm kernel, and palm oils.
*Limits sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets.
Mediterranean Diet:
*Make your diet rich in “plant-based foods”.
*Switch to low-fat or nonfat dairy.
*More fish, less white meat, very limited red meat.
*Consume limited sugar-sweetened beverages, baked goods, and other processed foods.
*Drink 6–8 glasses of water throughout the day.
Specific measures to take with high cholesterol:
Consume less saturated fat and total fat throughout each day (meats, dairy products, chocolate, baked goods, and deep-fried and processed foods). Use the nutritional label and the serving size to factor this. [2000 Calories per day allows for 56-78 grams of Total Fat and 13 grams of Saturated Fat]
Consume less than 200mg of cholesterol each day (foods of animal origin- liver and other organ meats, egg yolks, shrimp, and whole milk dairy products). Use the nutritional label and the serving size to factor this.
Eat more soluble fiber (apples, bananas, oranges, pears, prunes, oatmeal, lentils, chickpeas).
Eat more fish and less red meat. Focus on eating fish at least two times a week, lean meat if you must eat red meat (remove/drain the fat). Limit processed meats overall (sausage, bologna, salami, and hot dogs).
To also aid in weight loss and lower your risk of heart disease:
Limit salt – No more than 2,300 milligrams (about 1 teaspoon of salt) a day whether added personally or already included in a food. Read your labels!
Limit alcohol – Men should have no more than two drinks in one day. Women should have no more than one drink in one day.
Exercise – Focus on actively moving 150 minutes a week MINIMUM. 30 minutes a day 5x a week is a great start. Walking at a brisk pace is better than sitting. Building up to a jog would be the next step – speed is not a factor in this initial 150-minute goal for the week. Other ideas of active movement – swimming, rowing, hiking. MOVING is the goal.
I had no idea shrimp was high in cholesterol. This makes me sad.
Thank you for posting this. I’ve always been curious what action steps could be taken to prevent high cholesterol!
This definitely encourages me to eat more fish… even though I am not a big fish eater!
This one is well-timed. Just had this conversation with my doctor recently. Thanks for the dietary recommendations.
Thank you for sharing! I have high cholesterol and don’t want to add more medicine! I am sad to hear about shrimp though!
wahoo I love all of these…apples, bananas, oranges, pears, prunes, oatmeal, lentils, chickpeas.
Thanks for these recommendations! I’ve been going on morning walks to start my day moving. I often struggle getting plants in my diet, but I plan to keep working on that!
I’m motivated by the dietary guidelines you shared. I love that my fruit favorites, especially apples, made the good list!