First Christian Church

Foods To Avoid High Cholesterol – What You Need to Know

When choosing foods to avoid high cholesterol, you need understand some of the poor information that is out there. A lot of the time when we think about high cholesterol then our first idea is that we need to completely rule out cholesterol inducing foods from our lives, however the truth iswe do need some cholesterol in our blood for our bodies to work properly and also while we can skip particular foods to avoid high cholesterol, diet only plays a small part in cholesterol levels.

Cholesterol is a wax like substance which is produced by the liver and the body needs it for building and maintaining cell membranes and balancing the hormones. As we have already brought up a tiny part of it can be made through our dietbut the vast majority of it is created by our livers. The foods to avoid high cholesterol are in general foods that contain saturated fats such as red meats and dairy products, and in all likelihood the worst offenders are foods that contain trans fats; trans fats are made from hydrogenated vegetable oils, and frequently discovered in fast foods and ready made meals foods.

The foods to avoid high cholesterol that we have named i.e. the saturated fats and trans fats will reduce a little bit of production of LDL cholesterol normally refferred to as “bad” cholesterol, nevertheless there is another cholesterol that you want to increase which is HDL cholesterol. The point of the HDL cholesterol is that it helps to reduce plaque buildup produced by LDL cholesterol and additionally it mops up the LDL cholesterol and takes it back to the liver for recycling. Foods that can bump up this HDL cholesterol are usually foods that contain omega three fats such as flax seed and walnuts; oily fish is particularly excellent at raising the HDL cholesterol because it contains two omega3 fats which are DHA and EPA and these have been scientifically proven to not only help balance out cholesterol levels but also cut triglycerides as well.

Often if you go to the doctors to talk about your cholesterol levels, they will just turn to your total cholesterol and look to cut that rather than look at the seperate cholesterol levels and also triglyceride levels. Usually the course of treatment that is taken is to order statins. The trouble with statins is that even though they will reduce your LDL cholesterol by way of inhibiting the enzymes that produce it, simultaneously they also curb enzymes that the body needs to work properly, and curbing these good enzymes can lead to some awful health ramifications. Regrettably statins are served quite often before looking at other treatmentrs to help balance out the cholesterol levels such as talking over foods to avoid high cholesterol. You need to consider carefully if you are offered statins by a doctor as once you are on them then it is a lifetime prescription.

However, at the end of the day, they are a qualified medical expert, so ultimately you should always follow their advice or get a second opinion from another suitably qualified medical expert.