Low Cholesterol Diet

Finding out that you have high cholesterol can shock you, but it's not the end of the world. There are ways to lower your cholesterol level, such as switching to a low cholesterol diet.

Here are some of the guidelines you need to follow for a low cholesterol diet:

1. Avoid food that's high in fat.

A low cholesterol diet minimizes intake of the following:

a. Animal fat, which is found in animal products such as cheese, milk, butter, and cream, and in fatty areas of meat, poultry, shellfish and fish. A low cholesterol diet limits the intake of food rich in animal fat.

b. Vegetable fat, which is found in vegetable products such as coconut oil, palm oil, and cocoa butter (used in chocolate). It is often found in cupcakes, biscuits, chips, etc. A low cholesterol diet limits the intake of food rich in vegetable fat.

c. Hydrogenated fat or trans-fatty acid, which is more commonly known as trans-fat. It is found in fries, doughnuts, and other processed food. A low cholesterol diet drastically reduces if not totally eliminates your intake of food rich in trans-fat.

2. Replace saturated fat with unsaturated fat.

There are two major types of fat - saturated and unsaturated (further classified into polyunsaturated and monounsaturated). A low cholesterol diet needs unsaturated fat as it lowers your cholesterol level.

A low cholesterol diet would use oil with unsaturated instead of saturated fat. Corn, sesame, sunflower, and soybean oil are high in polyunsaturated fat, while olive and canola oil are high in monounsaturated fat. If you need to use oil in your cooking, these are better options in a low cholesterol diet.

3. Avoid food that's high in cholesterol.

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in food that comes from animal products such as eggs, meat, poultry, shellfish, dairy products, and fish. Cholesterol is not fat, so you can find it in both high-fat and low-fat food. A low cholesterol diet limits the intake of high-cholesterol food.

On the other hand, food that comes from plants such as fruits, grains, vegetables, nuts and seeds contain no cholesterol at all, so choose these for a low cholesterol diet.

4. Choose food that's high in complex carbohydrates.

Simple carbohydrates include table sugar, white bread, soda, candy, and corn syrup. These should be avoided in a low cholesterol diet. Choose instead brown bread, pasta, fruits, rice, beans and oats, which are good sources of complex carbohydrates. These are high-fiber food which makes you feel full longer after meals and improves your digestion too. However, try to eat them plain and forego the butter, milk, cream or rich sauces as these are high in calories, which must be avoided in a low cholesterol diet.

A low cholesterol diet doesn't mean you have to stop eating all your favorite food, just make sure you limit your intake of unhealthy food and switch to lighter varieties. To be truly effective, any diet (including the low cholesterol diet) must satisfy some of your cravings. For example, choose diet soda over regular soda; skim milk over whole milk; low fat butter over margarine.