Adopting a low cholesterol diet can be simple with just a small guidance which can be offered by this article. Blood cholesterol can be a fairly complicated issue and in most cases, people prefer using natural means to lower its levels like a low cholesterol diet. We know that heart disease risk increases when LDL levels are high, especially above 200. There are a few things that people basically agree on when it comes to ways to decrease these numbers. Some useful information is listed below.
High cholesterol causes
High cholesterol can be genetic and this should be one of the things that you should know. People’s livers process cholesterol different from other people, so it is normal for some people to be more sensitive to fast increases in cholesterol levels. Also, conditions such as hypothyroidism and diabetes can exacerbate high cholesterol levels. Diseases we are genetically predisposed to can be influenced by diet. When it comes to this subject, more and more experts agree by the day.
Cholesterol and obesity go hand in hand. To consume a healthy, low cholesterol diet is very important to individuals that have high levels of cholesterol. Individuals can reduce their cholesterol levels through the help of a low fat diet such as a vegetarian diet or a Pritikin diet.
What is a low cholesterol diet?
Well, first of all it might be useful to know what cholesterol is. Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is produced by the liver, but is also present in many foods we eat such as animal products. Your body can be led to producing more cholesterol than is necessary by eating too many foods that are high in saturated fats such as palm oil and eating too many animal based foods. In order to be healthy, everyone needs some cholesterol in his or her body. However, when those cholesterol levels become too high, it can become problematic.
Excess amounts of LDL or low-density lipoprotein ends up as plaque on artery walls. LDL carries cholesterol from the liver to the rest of the body. The risk of heart disease is increased by the formation of plaque. HDL carries the cholesterol away from the arteries. This substance is also known as high density lipoprotein or “good” cholesterol. Next to these two abbreviations, you will see numbers when you have a lipid profile done. When you have this lipid profile done, the results are good if the LDL level is lower than 200 and the HDL levels are higher than 45.
