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eLearning Series:
My Cholesterol Level Is Too High -
What Can I Do?
( 8 pages )
NATURAL
TREATMENTS FOR CHOLESTEROL
No medications
can do a better job than treating your high cholesterol naturally.
And, if you are one of those lucky people
who do not have cholesterol concerns, you may want to take
steps to keep it that way!
What can you do
to improve your cholesterol levels? Here’s the list and we
will cover each item thoroughly.
Reduce fat in
your diet
One of the best
plans is covered previously in our chart on saturated fat.
But there is more you can do.
Buy the
leanest
cuts of meat you can find. Regularly substitute poultry
(without the skin) and fish for red meat. Both are lower
in saturated
fat. Switch to low fat cottage cheese and yogurt, reduced
fat hard cheeses and skim or 1 percent milk.
Eat no
more than four egg yolks a week
Many people don’t
have to worry about eating cholesterol. Normal bodies adjust
to increased
intake by cutting
back on regular
product. However, since one third of Americans are
cholesterol responders their blood cholesterol does go
up when they
eat cholesterol. You probably don’t know if you
fall into this
category so play it safe. Eat no more than four egg
yolks a week. An average egg yolk contains 213 milligrams
of
cholesterol!
Eliminate fried
foods
Buying low fat
is just the beginning. You need to institute low fat cooking
methods to keep
the cholesterol
from
sneaking back in to your diet.
- Remove fatty
skin from chicken and turkey.
- Don’t fry foods.
Roast, bake, broil, grill or poach them instead.
- Use fat
free marinades or basting with liquids like wine, tomato
or lemon juice.
- Use olive or canola oils for
sautéing
or baking. Both are very low in saturated
fat.
- Use diet, tub or squeeze margarines
instead of regular. Watch for the
term “hydrogenated,”
which
means some
of the fat
is saturated.
Eat vegetables and complex
carbohydrates
Lowest fat foods of all are vegetables,
fruits, grains (rice, barley
and pasta), beans and
legumes. Try
substituting some
of these for meat and high
fat dairy products.
- Don’t douse your pasta with
butter or your potato with sour
cream.
- Use tomato base sauces instead
of cream base.
- Use lemon
juice, low sodium soy sauce or
herbs to season
vegetables.
- Make
chili with extra beans and seasonings
while leaving
out the
meat.
Lose weight
If
you are overweight, the chances are
almost 100%
that you have a
problem with
high cholesterol.
You
can lower your
LDL and
elevate your
HDL just
by dropping some pounds.
Eat
fewer
fatty foods
and more fruits, vegetables,
grains
and beans and it’s a pretty
good bet
that you will
slowly
but surely
lose
weight.
Include
your
family
Eating
habits
carry
through
to
adulthood. Get your
children
on
a healthy
eating
pattern
early.
Don’t
begin
until
they
are
at least
2 years
of
age, however.
Babies
need
extra
fat
calories to develop
properly.
Snack
all
you
want
Yep,
that’s what
we wrote.
Snack several
times a
day on
low fat
foods. Yogurt,
fruit, vegetables,
bagels and
whole grain
breads and
cereals are
excellent for
snacking. In
fact, there
is evidence
that points
to lower
cholesterol levels
in people
who eat
several small
meals a
day. Eating
often can
keep hormones
like insulin
from rising
and signaling
your body
to make
more cholesterol.
Make certain
that your
total intake
of calories
doesn’t go
up when
you eat
more often.
Nuts
to you!
Do
you like
nuts? If
you do,
sprinkle a
few on
your cereal,
bake them
into muffins
or pancakes
or add
them to
casseroles or
stir-fries. Walnuts
and almonds
are especially
good. Eating
about three
ounces of
walnuts a
day is
shown to
decrease blood
cholesterol levels
by 10%
more than
an already
low fat,
low cholesterol
diet. Walnuts
are high
in fat,
but it
is mostly
polyunsaturated fat,
which is
the kind
that lowers
cholesterol. Another
study shows
that about
three ounces
of almonds
which are
rich in
monounsaturated fat,
lowers LDL
by 9%!
Eat
chocolate
Aha!
All you
chocoholics rejoice!
Studies indicate
that the
fat in
chocolate is
stearic acid
and has
no effect
on cholesterol
levels. The
chocolate does
not increase
LDL and
could raise
HDL a
wee bit.
But chocolate
is still
high in
fat and
calories so
don’t go
overboard.
Drink
fruit juices
You
may have
read about
the low
rate of
heart disease
in France.
It led
researchers to
believe that
the French
habit of
drinking red
wine with
meals contributes
to this.
Apparently some
of the
non-alcoholic ingredients
in red
wine raises
HDL and
suppresses the
body from
producing LDL.
Purple
grape juice
works the
same way.
It will
work like
red wine
to lower
the fat
level in
your blood.
The LDL
lowering effect
of red
wine and
grape juice
comes from
a compound
that grapes
produce normally
to resist
mold. The
darker the
grape juice,
the better.
Grapefruit
juice does
the same
thing and
it may
also help
your body
get rid
of that
nasty plaque
that we
discussed
earlier.
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