Ldl Cholesterol

A person's cholesterol level is determined by a number of different factors such as their genetic make up, their diet and the type of life style they lead. Although you will be unable to do anything about your genetic makeup you can change your future by making some heart friendly lifestyle choices. One such choice is to diet to lower cholesterol levels in order to help you live a long and happy life.

What is important with any diet for lowering cholesterol levels is that you must monitor your cholesterol intake. The cholesterol you eat (dietary cholesterol) can cause blood cholesterol levels to rise, so it is vital that limit your intake to 300 milligrams each day. Also it is important the amount of fat you have in your diet as fat encourages weight gain which can elevate blood cholesterol levels.

Any diet to lower cholesterol levels is not hard to follow given the variety of foods that are now available. There are many ready prepared meals now being produced which are low in fat and low in cholesterol, for those of us who do not have time to fix something a little more elaborate. However, when out shopping for any foods, it is vital that you look at the labels and keep the following in mind.

1. Eat as many fresh fruit and vegetables as you can as they are low in both calories and fat. 2. Lower the amount of saturated fats that you consume, as foods that contain these types of fat will raise your cholesterol levels. 3. If you can, exclude partially hydrogenated vegetable oils from your diet as they contain a particular form of unsaturated fat known as trans-fat. We are talking about products produced using margarines and shortenings as these will raise your blood cholesterol levels just like saturated fats do. 4. Instead of consuming foods which contain white flour use ones that have whole grain flour in them instead. 5. Use low fat or skimmed dairy products instead of full fat ones. Not only does this reduce your risk of suffering from heart disease but is good for the waistline as well. 6. When using oils for cooking, go for olive or canola oil instead. These are particularly high in monounsaturated fats. Or else use a vegetable oil which is high in polyunsaturated fat. Any unsaturated fat will help to lower cholesterol levels.

Even though a diet is specific to each individual, as long as you follow the points shown above, you should be able to have a diet to lower cholesterol levels that is suited to you. In fact for some people by keeping their total fat intake to 30% of the total amount of calories they consume will often help to lower cholesterol levels in their blood.