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lower cholesterol
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat like substance that presents itself naturally in cell walls and membranes everywhere in your body. Your body uses cholesterol to produce many hormones. It also uses it to produce vitamin D and the bile acids that help to digest fat.
One of the best plans is covered previously in our chart on saturated fat. But there is more you can do. Buy the leanest cuts of meat you can find. Regularly substitute poultry (without the skin) and fish for red meat. Both are lower in saturated fat. Switch to low fat cottage cheese and yogurt, reduced fat hard cheeses and skim or 1 percent milk.
The only drawback to using fruits like applesauce and apricots as fat substitutes is that baked goods tend to become soggy and moldy within a day or two so plan quantities accordingly. Also, when baking with substitutes for fat, use cake flour instead of regular all purpose flour. It will keep the baked good tender. Don’t over bake your fat reduced recipes as they do tend to dry out quicker than traditional recipes that call for butter or oil.
When elevated cholesterol is first discovered in a person without heart disease, doctors often start patients on the Step I diet recommended by the American Heart Association and NCEP. On this program, patients should eat: 8 to 10 percent of the day's total calories from saturated fat, 30 percent or less of total calories from fat, less than 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol a day, and just enough calories to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. A doctor or a registered dietitian can suggest a reasonable calorie level. Food labels also are very helpful in determining how much saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories are in various foods.
Don’t think that just because we are discussing “fat free” regimens that you must cut beef completely out of your diet. Too much of this “good thing” won’t do you any favors. However, you can have your steak and eat it too, provided it’s a cut that is relatively low in fat and cholesterol and you do not add fat in the cooking and serving process.
Primary effectiveness is lowering triglycerides. There is a lesser effect in increasing HDL levels.
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