It's easily known that eating red meat often and munching on French fries and doughnuts aren't the ways to go about lowering your cholesterol and protecting yourself from heart disease. But can you distinguish which foods are "good" fats and which are "bad"? And once you know what a healthy cholesterol level is, how can you make sure to maintain it?
What's Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that's made in the liver and is also found in meats and dairy products. Your body needs some cholesterol to produce hormones, vitamin D, and acids that aid in digesting fat. But when you overload on cholesterol-laden foods, you risk developing health problems, like coronary heart disease.
The Good and Bad
- Low density lipoproteins (LDL), commonly referred to as "bad" cholesterol, causes buildup of plaque on the arteries' walls, which can cause a heart attack or stroke.
- High density lipoproteins (HDL), also called "good" cholesterol, helps your body get rid of bad cholesterol in the blood. If you have low levels of HDL, you are at greater risk of heart disease.
What to Watch Out For
Doctors recommend that everyone over the age of 20 get their cholesterol levels measured at least once every five years.
Ideally, your cholesterol level should stay below 200. A level of 200-239 is considered borderline high, and a level of 240 and above is high.
There are various reasons your cholesterol level may be higher than what's considered healthy. The saturated fat and cholesterol in the foods you eat increase cholesterol, and your levels are also affected by your weight, amount of exercise, age, and gender. Sometimes, regardless of how well you take care of yourself, having high cholesterol can be genetic.
How to Lower Cholesterol and Reduce the Risk of Heart Disease
- Eat healthier: Limit, or better yet, avoid foods high in saturated fat, trans fat and that contain a lot of cholesterol.
- Exercise: 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least four day a week (brisk walking, jogging, bike riding, or swimming) helps to lower bad cholesterol and raise the good kind.
- Quit smoking: Smoking lowers HDL ("good") cholesterol.
- If you've made beneficial changes to your diet and exercise regimen, and your cholesterol level doesn't budge below 200, your genetics could be to blame. In this case, you may also need to take cholesterol-lowering medication prescribed by your doctor.
A Cholesterol-Lowering Diet
According to the American Heart Association, certain foods such as fatty fish, walnuts, oatmeal, and oat bran, along with a regular diet of low-fat foods, help lower and control your cholesterol level.
What's most important is not how much fat you get in your diet, but the type of fat you obtain. Bad fats (trans and saturated fats) increase the risk of heart disease, while good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) are good for your heart and body. Some good fats include canola, peanut and olive oils; avocados; nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, and pecans; seeds such as pumpkin and sesame seeds; soybean and flaxseed oils; and fish.
Eating a heart-healthy diet just requires a little extra time and creativity. Check food labels for trans fats to limit what you eat, and avoid fried fast food. Cut back on eating red meat by replacing it with beans, nuts, poultry, and fish. Switch from whole milk and other full-fat dairy foods to lower fat versions. And instead of using butter, try cooking with liquid vegetable oils rich in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.
