Diet to Lower Cholesterol — How to Raise Good Cholesterol
If you want to follow a good diet to lower cholesterol, you need to raise good cholesterol by eating good cholesterol foods in addition to finding the best diet for high cholesterol that actually takes steps to reduce high cholesterol.
Remember that increasing HDL helps to decrease LDL, and the same is true in reverse. For this reason, the best way to lower cholesterol is not just to follow a low cholesterol low sugar diet or a low carb low cholesterol diet, but finding ways to lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol.
Don’t know how to go about it? Here are some things you need to know about how to raise good cholesterol and follow a diet to lower cholesterol…
Diet to Lower Cholesterol: The Best Diet for High Cholesterol
There are many diets that you can follow in order to lower your cholesterol, but the best diet for high cholesterol is actually quite simple. Concisely put, it involves:- Consuming less than 7% of your total calories in the form of saturated fats
- Cutting back your total fat consumption to 25 to 35 percent
- Limiting cholesterol to 200 mg or less per day
- Reducing sodium consumption to 2,400 mg every day
- Eating just enough calories to stay healthy, and NO MORE!!!
Diet to Lower Cholesterol: Some Good Cholesterol Foods
Many people focus on not eating the wrong foods, but the truth of the matter is that eating the right good cholesterol foods is important. If you want to lower your bad cholesterol, the best thing to do is to raise good cholesterol. Good cholesterol helps to take out the trash in your body, and will be the most effective thing to help you fight cholesterol. Here are some of the best good cholesterol foods you can eat:- Nuts and Seeds – There are dozens of seeds and nuts that you should include in your diet, such as sunflower seeds, almonds, cashews, and peanuts, among others. They help to increase your HDL cholesterol, but they will also help to lower your LDL cholesterol as well.
- Beans and Oats – These two foods contain tons of soluble fiber, which is needed by your body to have healthy digestion. However, this fiber will also be excellent at helping to lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol, as the fiber absorbs the bad stuff and helps the HDL to get rid of it.
- Avocadoes – Avocadoes are rich in natural fats that your body needs, and they will be excellent at helping your body to get rid of the LDL cholesterol by raising HDL cholesterol. As long as they are consumed in moderation (due to their high fat content), they will be excellent for you.
- Omega 3 – Omega 3 is a fatty acid that is found in fish, particularly fish that live in cold water. These fatty acids are very effective at raising your HDL cholesterol levels, and you will find that there are many additional benefits of Omega 3.
- Orange and Cranberry Juice – These two juices contain lots of Vitamin C, which is a natural antioxidant. Orange zest also contains hesperidin, and cranberry skin contains flavonoids; both of these things can help to reduce cholesterol.
- Foods rich in Magnesium – There are certain foods that are rich in magnesium, such as potatoes, spinach, and bananas. These foods can help to lower blood pressure, fight cholesterol, and improve the overall health of your heart.
- Coconut oil – Coconut oil is a natural oil that will not contribute to your bad cholesterol levels, but it helps to stabilize your cholesterol levels.
Diet to Lower Cholesterol: Reduce Stress and Reduce High Cholesterol
One of the best ways to reduce high cholesterol is to reduce stress. “Stress?” you may wonder. “How does stress work to increase my cholesterol levels?” Many tests have been run, and many doctors have tried to find the direct link between stress and increased cholesterol. However, to date there have been no studies that have proven beyond a doubt how stress causes high cholesterol, but there are a few indirect links:- Stress causes cortisol to be produced, and cortisol throws off the hormonal balance inside your body. When your hormones aren’t balanced, there are many results like eating disorders, reproductive problems, etc. It is believed that stress also causes your body to produce more of the hormones that store fat, thus causing increased levels of cholesterol.
- As stress produces cortisol, cortisol often makes it harder to sleep at night. When you don’t sleep enough, your body produces a hormone that tells your body it needs more sleep. However, this hormone is often misinterpreted by the brain as your being hungry, and you end up feeling hungry and eating more when you don’t sleep enough. More food = more cholesterol.
- When you are stressed, you don’t take as good care of yourself. Usually you are running and in a hurry, so you don’t have to time to eat right or do exercise. Many people that are stressed end up drinking and smoking to calm down, and both of these activities cause increases in cholesterol.
Diet to Lower Cholesterol: The Best Way to Lower Cholesterol – Stop Smoking
Those that are trying to follow a diet to lower cholesterol will find that the best way to lower cholesterol and prevent complications is to stop smoking. Smoking is not only damaging to your lungs, your throat, and your heart, but it will also directly affect your cholesterol. Let’s take a look at what smoking does to your body and cholesterol levels:- Smoking causes the production of HDL cholesterol to be suppressed. When your body doesn’t produce enough HDL cholesterol, it can’t get rid of all the LDL cholesterol. This means that the bad cholesterol is going to be running around your system unchecked if you smoke.
- Smoking causes the oxygen in your lungs to be tainted with the toxins and chemicals in the cigarettes, meaning that the oxygen that your blood passes through your body is tainted and can do serious harm to your body.
- Smoking increases the production of LDL cholesterol in your body, meaning that more of the bad stuff is floating through your body. Not only does it cause less of the good cholesterol to be produced, but it takes advantage of your weakened state to produce bad cholesterol.
- Smoking causes high blood pressure, which weakens your heart. In addition to the high blood pressure, it weakens the walls of your arteries. If you have buildup of plaque on the walls of your arteries, the plaque is much more likely to crack the walls and cause serious problems.
Diet to Lower Cholesterol: A Great Natural Remedy for High Cholesterol
If you want to find a natural remedy for high cholesterol, obviously dieting and exercise are two of the best. The diet to lower cholesterol contains all the foods that will raise good cholesterol, and exercise keeps the heart working and cleansing the body. However, aside from these two methods of dealing with high cholesterol, there are a few more. One of the best natural remedy for high cholesterol options is the Liver Cleanse. While it is a drastic solution, it may be exactly what you need. What is the Liver Cleanse? It is a diet in which you only drink fluids like water and natural juices. This diet is effective at flushing out all the junk from your body, including the cholesterol that is causing problems. If you want to effectively lower cholesterol drastically, you may want to check into the Liver Cleanse as an excellent natural remedy for high cholesterol.Diet to Lower Cholesterol: The Importance of a Low Cholesterol Low Sugar Diet
A low cholesterol low sugar diet is incredibly important, as sugar is one of the main things that cause cholesterol. Sugar is directly related to heart diseases like cholesterol and high blood pressure, so it is essential that you keep a low sugar diet. One of the main problems with sugar is that it contains carbohydrates that contain absolutely no nutrients. These carbs are called empty carbs, as they are high in calories but low in nutrients. Those that eat a lot of sugar end up gaining weight, having heart problems, and having a high cholesterol level. The low cholesterol low sugar diet ensures that you get more nutrients than empty junk. Sugar is turned into fat very quickly by your body, and the high amount of fat will cause cholesterol. Cutting out sugar is very important, as that will ensure that your body stays as cholesterol free as possible.Diet to Lower Cholesterol: The Importance of a Low Carb Low Cholesterol Diet
Carbohydrates are converted by your body into energy, but there are good and bad carbs. Good carbs take the body a longer time to digest, meaning that the body receives energy as needed. The food is slowly digested and processed by the body over time, and thus the energy all gets used. However, bad carbs are empty of other nutrients, and thus the body can process it very quickly. The body gets an infusion of calories in a short amount of time, more than it can handle. When there are too many calories for the body to use in a short amount of time, it stores the excess in the form of fat. This fat causes cholesterol, and thus you will be increasing your cholesterol levels by eating these empty carbs. Carbohydrates on the whole can cause cholesterol increases, which is why it is recommended that you reduce the amount of carbs you consume daily. By cutting back on the amount of carbs you consume and only consuming the complex carbs that will be processed properly by your body, you can ensure that high cholesterol is a thing of the past.Diet to Lower Cholesterol: Herbs to Lower Cholesterol
There are some great herbs to lower cholesterol, and these herbs will work well in your body to drive out all the junk that will clog your arteries. Don’t know what herbs these are? Below is a list of a few herbs to lower cholesterol along with their benefits:- Garlic – Garlic is incredibly effective for your heart, as it helps to lower blood pressure and prevent heart problems. It will also increase the production of the good cholesterol in your body, while simultaneously lowering the production of bad cholesterol.
- Alfalfa – The tiny fibers in the alfalfa stick themselves to the cholesterol particles, thus preventing them from circulating through the blood system. The blood senses the larger particles as needing to be disposed of, and it sends them to be disposed of via the digestive system. Alfalfa also helps to increase production of HDL cholesterol, thus effectively lowering LDL cholesterol.
- Red Yeast Rice – The Chinese have been using Red Yeast Rice for millennia as a treatment for many disorders, and it is an effective treatment that will help to improve circulation. You can increase HDL cholesterol production and decrease LDL cholesterol production by trying this amazing supplement.
- Hawthorn Berry – The Hawthorn berry helps to prevent heart disorders by relaxing and dilating the blood vessels, but it also acts as an antioxidant to prevent the oxidization of cholesterol.
Diet to Lower Cholesterol: Cinnamon Cholesterol Magic
Cinnamon is truly one of the most amazing spices on the planet, and it has many benefits for your overall health. Cinnamon cholesterol effects are truly amazing, as you can help to reduce risks of problems by trying this amazing spice. The reason that cinnamon works is that it mimics the function of insulin, which in turn helps to reduce cholesterol levels in your body. It will also help to keep the levels of blood sugar healthy.Diet to Lower Cholesterol: Fish Oil for Lowering Cholesterol
Fish oil is an amazing supplement, and this natural product has many benefits to your entire body. These benefits include boosted immune system, less risk of inflammation, and lower blood pressure. In addition, you can use fish oil for lowering cholesterol due to the simple fact that it helps to reduce levels of triglycerides in your body. The natural fatty acids in fish will be beneficial in your efforts to fight cholesterol, and it will be well worth considering. As mentioned above, using fish oil for lowering cholesterol can help you to lower your triglyceride levels. A lower triglyceride level means that your total cholesterol level is lower, and it also means that the HDL cholesterol can focus on eliminating all the LDL cholesterol from your body. If you want a very effective supplement to help you fight off cholesterol problems, look no further than fish oil for lowering cholesterol as a great addition to your diet to lower cholesterol.Diet to Lower Cholesterol: Alcohol and Cholesterol – The Best of Friends and the Worst of Enemies
Those following diet to lower cholesterol will find that alcohol has two effects on the body:- A moderate consumption of alcohol increases the levels of HDL cholesterol on in the body. Increased HDL cholesterol means lower LDL and total cholesterol levels, meaning less risk of cholesterol-related problems.
- Too much alcohol damages the liver, impairs the immune system, causes high blood pressure, and increases cholesterol levels in your body due to the high sugar content.