Your body needs a sufficient amount of cholesterol for proper functioning. Cholesterol allows your body to create healthy cells. However, it’s far too easy to live in excess and end up with bad cholesterol that endangers your health. High levels of cholesterol can increase your risk for heart attacks or stroke. This is why it is crucial to learn the importance of keeping a low cholesterol diet.
If you have diabetes or are predisposed to diabetes, let this post serve as your guide in choosing foods to lower cholesterol.
What Causes High Cholesterol?
Bad cholesterol is one of the ‘3 Highs’ in health that individuals should be wary about. The other two to avoid are high blood pressure and high blood sugar, the sum of which can lead to a health disaster.
There are several factors that lead to high cholesterol:
- It can be caused by being obese and maintaining a sedentary lifestyle with minimal to no exercise.
- Vices such as smoking or drinking alcohol can also contribute to issues with cholesterol.
- A family history of bad cholesterol also grows your chances of developing the same.
- While children can have unhealthy cholesterol, it is a lot more common among people aged 40 and up.
- Most importantly, keeping an unhealthy diet of processed foods, trans fats, and high-sugar foods is a guaranteed way to get the worst cholesterol for your body.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL is already high. However, a person is considered at high risk for developing heart disease if their total cholesterol level is higher than 240 mg/dL.
Unfortunately, there are no symptoms of high cholesterol, so the only way to know your cholesterol level is to undergo a laboratory examination.
What to Eat for a Low Cholesterol Diet
You can reduce your risks by changing your lifestyle, from losing weight to living a more active life. Even better, it is crucial that you start limiting your intake of saturated fats and instead go for healthier food options. After all, why risk damaging your arteries when you can reduce the danger by going on a low cholesterol diet?
Here are some of the best foods to lower cholesterol:
High-fiber foods
One way to prevent the absorption of cholesterol in your digestive tract is through the intake of food with high soluble fiber content. You can get your fill of the following food items:
- Oatmeal
- Fruits like bananas and apples
- Legumes like chickpeas or kidney beans
- Vegetables
Foods with omega-3 fatty acids
Food that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids can help increase your good cholesterol level and reduce your risk of getting bad cholesterol and heart diseases. Eat lots of the following:
- Salmon, tuna, mackerel, and other seafood
- Chia seeds and flaxseed
- Nuts
- Plant oils like canola and soybean oil
Low-carbs food
Eating foods that are low in carbohydrates such as cauliflower can help you with diabetes management. A 100-gram serving of cauliflower contains 25 kcal of energy and 4.97 grams of carbohydrates. It also contains plant sterols that help keep cholesterol away from the intestines.
Starting Your Low Cholesterol Diet? Lowsutea Can Help
Changing your lifestyle and following a low cholesterol diet can do wonders for your health. Another item you can incorporate into your diet is a healthy alternative to sugary beverages.
A daily dose of Lowsutea sugar cleansing tea can help in lowering your cholesterol and ultimately manage your diabetes symptoms. Lowsutea is an all-natural tea made of bitter melon and guava leaves which improve insulin sensitivity and also help reduce blood sugar, making it an ideal drink for diabetics and pre-diabetics.
Try out Lowsutea and see it work wonders for your health. Improve your quality of life, one cup at a time. Click here to order our products.