Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in our bodies and in animal products such as meat, eggs and milk. Cholesterol is important for hormone production, vitamin D absorption and bile production to digest fats.
Your liver produces cholesterol, but you can also make cholesterol from eating animal foods. HDL (“good”) cholesterol helps your body excrete excess cholesterol, while LDL (“bad”) cholesterol is linked to plaque buildup in your arteries.
When you consume extra cholesterol, you may compensate by reducing the amount of natural cholesterol you make. Conversely, when dietary cholesterol is low, your body increases cholesterol production to make sure it has enough of this important substance.
Foods that contribute to high cholesterol levels fall into four main groups: fried foods, fatty meats, whole milk and sweets. Eating fewer animal foods and more plant foods and limiting processed foods can help improve your cholesterol levels.
If you have high cholesterol, avoid processed foods, foods high in saturated and trans fats, whole milk products, and foods high in sugar. These can include:
- Foods high in saturated fats, such as butter and lard.
- Tropical oils, such as coconut oil and palm oil.
- Foods high in trans fats (hydrogenated oils), such as baked goods, frozen foods, such as cold pizza, and margarine.
- Whole milk products, such as milk, cheese, butter, and ice cream.
- Processed foods, including baked goods and snacks, such as cakes, cookies, microwave corn, and refrigerated dough (rolls and crackers).
- Processed meats, such as sausages, salami, chorizo, bacon, and pork chops.
- Organ meats and red meats, such as pork tenderloin, beef jerky, and beef jerky.
- Fried foods, such as chicken wings, onion rings, french fries, donuts, and mozzarella cheese.
- Fast foods, such as burgers, hot dogs, pizza, and tacos.
- Sugary drinks, such as plain water and ice cream drinks.
At the same time, you should choose healthy foods in your daily meals to best control your cholesterol.
There are 6 heart-healthy superfoods that can help lower cholesterol, including:
- Plant-based foods that contain fiber, such as green leafy vegetables, broccoli, beans, eggplant, carrots, apples, pears, oranges, grapes, and berries.
- Whole grains such as oats, brown rice, barley, millet, bulgur wheat, spelt wheat, buckwheat and quinoa.
- Nuts such as almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts and pecans.
- Seeds such as flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and chia seeds.
- Healthy fats (polyunsaturated fats) include avocados and vegetable oils such as sunflower oil, canola oil, sesame oil and olive oil.
- Lean protein sources such as fatty or oily fish (omega-3) and poultry (skinless).
