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Foods To Avoid High Cholesterol - What You Need to Know

This entry was posted on Jan 25 2010

When it comes down to 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 thought is that we need to totally rule out cholesterol inducing foods from our lives, however the truth iswe do need some cholesterol in our blood for our bodies to function the right way and also while we can avoid particular foods to avoid high cholesterol, what you eat has a tiny role in cholesterol levels.

Cholesterol is a wax like substance which is created by the liver and the body needs it for creating and looking after cell membranes and balancing the hormones. As we have all ready observed a small part of it can be created through our dietbut most of it is created by our livers. The foods to avoid high cholesterol are chiefly foods that contain saturated fats such as red meats and dairy products, and probably the worst offenders are foods that contain trans fats; trans fats are made from hydrogenated vegetable oils, and frequently found in fast foods and processed foods.

The foods to avoid high cholesterol that we have mentioned i.e. the saturated fats and trans fats will lower a little bit of production of LDL cholesterol normally refferred to as “bad” cholesterol, however there is another cholesterol that you want to increase which is HDL cholesterol. The purpose of the HDL cholesterol is that it helps to repress plaque buildup made by LDL cholesterol and additionally it clears up the LDL cholesterol and takes it back to the liver for reprocessing. Foods that can bump up this HDL cholesterol are commonly foods that comprise of omega three fats along the lines of flax seed and walnuts; oily fish is particularly good at boosting 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 lower triglycerides as well.

Ofttimes if you go to the doctors to talk about your cholesterol levels, they will just look your total cholesterol and look to reduce that rather than look at the single cholesterol levels and also triglyceride levels. Usually the course of action that is taken is to prescribe statins. The problem with statins is that although they will cut your LDL cholesterol by way of suppressing the enzymes that create it, simultaneously they also suppress enzymes that the body needs to work properly, and curbing these needed enzymes can lead to some awful health complications. Unfortunately statins are prescribed quite often without looking at other treatmentrs to help balance out the cholesterol levels such as talking about foods to avoid high cholesterol. You need to think cautiously 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.

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