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Good Cholesterol Foods – An Alternative Way To Reduce Cholesterol Level

We hear them preached everywhere, every time.. Eat good cholesterol foods and reduce your figures. When it comes to cholesterol, we all know that there are “good” ones and “bad” ones, with HDL being the good type and LDL the bad type. The problem is how to stick with the good one and get rid of the bad one? It’s a rather complicated subject, so let’s start..

As bad as they may seem to be, cholesterol is actually very important for us humans. However, high levels of them in the bloodstream are seldom associated with stroke, heart disease and other cardivascular disease. What to be avoided on almost any condition is high LDL and low HDL. The LDL may become hardened and then forms plaques in your arteries, slowing or even blocking blood flow. HDL one the other hand, offers the ability to gather up excessive amount of LDL and carry it back to the liver.

Both LDL and HDL are formed in your body. You don’t actually eat them. Some foods known to contain cholesterol are dairy products, animal fat and eggs. Oils and fats coming from plants contain a substance almost similar to cholesterol, called phytosterols. They help to lower cholesterol level in human blood. Simple carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour, along with saturated fats and trans fats all contributes to high LDL production in your body.

Judging from the facts above, good cholesterol foods are foods coming from plants, because of the pythosterols in them. Other substances such as Omega-3 fats found in fish, and Canola oil are beneficial to your bodies as well.

A good diet for keeping LDL levels low would include lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grain foods, such as oatmeal and fish. Eating a bowl of oatmeal every day has been shown to reduce LDL levels.

When you do your cooking or baking, it’s much better to choose olive oil and canola oil instead of lard or saturated fat. Also, try to eat some nuts every day. It has been shown that eating certain nuts decreases risk of heart disease. So, these may be considered good cholesterol foods: pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, and peanuts. A daily serving of an ounce of any of these is recommended, unless you’re allergic to them, of course.

What you can also try is to replace your daily dose of coffee and soda with green tea instead. Green tea has been shown to have many health related benefit, lowering LDL level is one of them. If you need sweetener to go with it, stay away from processed sugar. Use honey or raw cane sugar.

Strive to include lots of different antioxidants in your diet. Cholesterols become a problem when they become oxidized into hard plaques. Antioxidants, such as those found in green tea, fruits and vegetables can help prevent cholesterol from turning into plaque.

If you can’t stop eating meat or poultry, choose lean cuts. If you can’t stop milk or other dairy products, choose reduced fat products made with skim or low-fat milk.

All in all, it’s not difficult at all to switch from your regular diet to good cholesterol foods. It’s just a matter of taking the right decision on what you eat.