You've probably heard about "bad" and "good" cholesterol. And since one of them is "good", you are perplexed by the abuse of cholesterol and recommendations to urgently lower it. Why, if he happens to be good?
The fact is that there is cholesterol, which we consume with food (food), and there is whey, which produces the body itself. LDL and HDL is bad and good, respectively. They are both serum and produced by the body in accordance with what you eat, and what gets into it. Proceeding from all the above, it becomes obvious that the diet for reducing cholesterol (bad!) Should stimulate our body to form HDL and lower LDL.
Cholesterol functions
Good cholesterol - high-density lipoproteins, is engaged in building nerve cells, "cleaning" blood vessels from its twin brother, synthesizing hormones and responsible for the transmission of nerve impulses.
Bad - low density lipoproteins, clogs blood vessels, which narrows the lumen for blood flow, resulting in infarction, angina pectoris, thrombi.
Diet
Fats
Food to reduce cholesterol should contain a minimum of saturated fats, since they are the first criterion determining the growth of LDL. This means that, if possible, you need to replace meat with fish and low-fat birds, do not overdo with butter and refined vegetable oils. At the same time, you should increase the consumption of olive oil, and more correctly, replace other fats with olive oil, because it contains unsaturated fats that "clean" the body of bad cholesterol.
Eggs
With regard to eggs, polemics last for decades, if not centuries. Yes, the yolk contains a lot of food cholesterol - 275 mg with a daily dose of 300 mg. However, you can afford 3 eggs a week with a clear conscience each. If you want more often, you can go around the diet to reduce cholesterol: cook omelettes from 1 yolk and 2 to 3 proteins.
Pectin
Beans, oats and corn are the best friends of those who are in search of products for lowering cholesterol. They consist of pectin - soluble fiber, which also produces cholesterol, like olive oil.
Half a cup of oats a day is not much, but it's enough to lower LDL.
Grapefruits
The best fruit to reduce cholesterol is grapefruit. Doctors recommend 2.5 cups of grapefruit slices per day, which, in their opinion, will lower cholesterol by 8% in a few weeks. Do not neglect these eight percent - reducing cholesterol by 2% significantly reduces the risk of heart attack.
The weight
Physicians have long noticed an obvious pattern: the higher the body weight, the more cholesterol the body produces. Accordingly, in order to lower its index, we must take up our excess weight. Observe a low-calorie diet, concentrate on olive oil from fats, eat more fruits (by the way, grapefruits beat off the appetite), as well as rough fiber, which creates a feeling of saturation. All these actions will necessarily bring an effect, especially if you combine them with physical exertion.
A total of a kilogram of excess weight increases the cholesterol index by two orders of magnitude.
The ratio of products in the menu
In order for food to reduce cholesterol and acted to the expected effect, they also need to be properly combined. We will not tell you about the "pyramids" of food, just remember that the 2/3 menu should consist of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and only 1/3 account for meat and dairy products.
And, lastly: cholesterol rises from bad habits (excessive drinking of coffee, alcohol, smoking) and from stress, which, in some ways, is also a habit. Therefore, first of all, find a way to relax.