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High Cholesterol Foods May Raise Your Cholesterol Levels
What is your diet like? Do you eat high cholesterol foods? That’s alright if your eat them in moderation and you have healthy cholesterol levels. After all a sufficient amount of cholesterol is crucial for the production of hormones and for proper functioning of our cell membranes in the body. You may wonder why you seldom hear about people suffering from cholesterol deficiency. Have you ever heard anyone say that to you?
Is This Part of Your Regular Diet?
High Cholesterol Foods To Avoid
It is because our body has the innate capability to manufacture cholesterol.
Therefore we do not need to eat high cholesterol foods to manage our cholesterol levels…we usually have to reduce them in our diet to bring our numbers down into a healthy range.
This brings us to the realization that frequent intake of high cholesterol foods is no longer necessary. Otherwise, we put ourselves at risk of several illnesses associated with having high cholesterol.
So what foods should we at least be aware of as having a high cholesterol content…and avoid if we need to make the changes to eat a good healthy diet?
- Organ Meats
Organ meats such as liver, brain and heart can be great sources of iron. However, most animal sources of these organ meats have a high cholesterol content. If you find yourself at risk of having high levels, it is best to avoid these organ meats.
- Lamb Meat
I love lamb, do you? A three-ounce serving of lamb provides you with about one-third of your daily cholesterol intake. This is the reason why if you are determined about lowering your cholesterol levels, it is best to avoid eating too much or at least eat the leaner cuts. If you do eat more, just watch what you eat for the rest of the day.
- Egg Yolks
Please note that I am not just referring to chicken eggs, I am talking about all eggs. Therefore goose or duck eggs should also be avoided. This claim has been the subject of debate of many health gurus and other medical experts. Many people are firm in believing that egg yolks can be real sources of important nutrients that can also improve your health.
There are also statements about eating 2 a week, or 4 to 6 a week. I can’t tell you what I think is a healthy number. I know I eat about 6 a week and my cholesterol is healthy.
However, eating eggs, or specifically egg yolks can affect many people in different ways. If you think that egg yolks will not affect your levels of cholesterol in any way, then maybe you can eat a couple more. If your cholesterol is high, then your doctor may recommend you leave them out of your diet plan. This is based on the premise that dietary cholesterol cannot have exactly the same effect on every person’s blood cholesterol count.
- Shrimp
Do not rejoice yet at the thought that it is safe to eat shrimp because they are low in fats. You still have one good reason to avoid eating shrimp – they are high in cholesterol. Eating one large shrimp can already give you 11 mg of cholesterol. Eating just one large, delicious shrimp is something that is not easy to do, if you don’t have self-control, especially when it is mixed with other delicacies!
- Butter
Butter is here, there and everywhere…cakes, bread, sautéed vegetables and other recipes contain butter. It may seem like a very minor part of your daily diet, which is why it is quite often, not used sparingly throughout the day. Every time you use butter for your morning toast and when cooking any other recipes, your cholesterol may accumulate into unsafe levels…not to mention it doesn’t help if you want or need to lose weight.
However, margarine is something I would never recommend. Butter is a healthier option, in my opinion, so you should also be wary about substituting butter with margarine. There are margarine products that contain trans fats which can also increase cholesterol production in the body. Plus they are made with other ‘unhealthy’ ingredients…that are not healthy at all. (A round-about way of saying, I think margarine is bad for you.)
Eat Foods To Lower Your Cholesterol Instead
Aside from avoiding these high cholesterol foods, try to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. You can also add foods to your diet that help lower your cholesterol levels if they are too high. These foods are just as delicious and nutritious. A healthy diet plan, plus add that to that a regular exercise regimen, get plenty of rest and you will soon have your heart healthy and pumping its way to a healthier you.
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