5 Of the Worst Foods for Your Cholesterol
Key Takeaways
There are good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol. HDL removes bad cholesterol from your blood, while LDL builds up in arteries causing health risks.
Regular exercise is important, but diet is crucial for controlling cholesterol.
Limit or avoid foods like red meat due to high saturated fat content.
Eggs, full-fat yogurt, fruits, and vegetables can help lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol.
According to studies, 94 million Americans have high cholesterol and not the right kind. Your body requires some cholesterol to function at its best.
In fact, your body uses cholesterol to build new cells, and hormones, and for vitamins that keep you healthy. The primary purpose of cholesterol is to create a membrane, or a protective bubble, around molecules in your body.
Many people aren’t aware that there are two types of cholesterol. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is typically referred to as “good cholesterol,” as it helps remove bad cholesterol from your blood.
Conversely, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is known as “bad cholesterol,” as it doesn’t provide any sort of health benefits and simply builds up on the inside of your arteries.
When cholesterol accumulates on the inner walls of your arteries, it’s harder for blood to get through, which results in high blood pressure (since the heart is working too hard to pump blood) and heart attacks.
While regular exercise is an important part of keeping your arteries healthy, your diet plays a major role in it, too.
Unfortunately, we live in a time in which fast food is at its most popular, and fast food is generally laden with bad cholesterol and offers very few nutritional benefits.
Additionally, many of the foods that you can just pop into the microwave and eat quickly, usually in the name of convenience, are filled with preservatives and other additives that make them bad for your cholesterol.
Whether you’re looking to completely change your diet in pursuit of a healthier lifestyle or you want to get your bad cholesterol under control, it’s important to know where to start with your diet.
Here’s a look at 5 of the worst foods for your cholesterol, including some that you may have assumed were healthy.
Red Meat
Depending on your LDL levels, avoiding red meat altogether may be your best option for lowering your cholesterol. Beef, pork, lamb, and some sausages are high in saturated fat, which leads to higher cholesterol levels.
Also, in order to preserve these meats, they’re usually salted heavily to make them last longer. While salt itself is not a direct cause of high cholesterol, high sodium levels along with high levels of bad cholesterol are a recipe for heart attack, stroke, and other major health crises.
If you do purchase red meat at the grocery store, be sure to check the fat content to find the healthiest option.
If you are already struggling with high cholesterol, your best bet is to replace red meat in your diet altogether. Opting for items like skinless chicken, turkey, or fish allows you to keep meat in your diet without eating red meat.
Also, beans are a great source of protein that is actually good for your cholesterol.
Fried Foods
Skinless chicken breast is a great option as a replacement for red meat, which lends itself perfectly to the next type of food that you should avoid if you want to reduce your bad cholesterol.
Fried foods, such as fried chicken, mozzarella sticks, and other “guilty pleasure” foods are bad for your cholesterol because they’re so high in trans fats.
Scientists have determined that a high intake of fried foods has a direct correlation to heart disease. Additionally, the batter that’s used in frying those foods is high in calories, leading to increased weight gain.
Being overweight is bad for your heart, lungs, and various other systems in your body, making fried foods a bad choice all around.
Fast Food
It is difficult to avoid fast food. Our society is busier than it’s ever been, leaving many people feeling like they have no choice but to run through the drive-thru on their way to work, on their way home from work, and even on their lunch break.
When you’re trying to make every second count because you’ve got responsibilities and places to be, fast food provides a level of convenience that’s hard to match.
Unfortunately, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything on a fast food menu that’s good for you.
Even if you grab a salad at your favorite fast food place, the dressings they provide are usually full of ingredients that you’re better off avoiding.
Processed Meats
Avoiding processed meats (or most processed food) altogether is a pretty difficult step to take.
With that in mind, if you can’t cut out all processed meat such as bacon, bologna, hot dogs, and sausages, you should certainly take steps to limit how much of them you take in.
When you go to the lunch meat aisle at your local grocery store, it’s important to know what to look for.
Consider looking for turkey-based alternatives to some of those items. Not only is turkey lower in calories than their processed counterparts, but it’s also better for your cholesterol.
There are also chicken-based versions of most of those items. While they’re not cholesterol-free, they are significantly lower in bad cholesterol.
Baked Goods
Most people love the taste of a freshly baked cookie, brownie, or cake. If you’ve ever seen the “Hot Now” sign at a popular donut place, you’ve probably enjoyed the taste of a hot, fresh donut with your coffee.
Unfortunately, baked goods are not good for your cholesterol, largely because of the ingredients used to make them.
Most baked goods have a large amount of butter in them, and butter, like all whole-fat dairy products, is terrible for your cholesterol.
Depending on your current LDL levels, you may be better served by finding cholesterol-friendly alternatives to these items and making them yourself.
Even if your cholesterol isn’t dangerously high, you should try to only enjoy baked goods in moderation, as they’re also high in calories, and eating too many of them can lead to obesity and other health problems.
What Foods Are Good for My Cholesterol?
If we only focused on the foods we needed to avoid or eat sparingly, it would only be painting part of the picture. There are foods that you can eat that can actually lower your bad cholesterol, primarily by increasing your good cholesterol.
Remember, HDL cholesterol actually removes some of the LDL cholesterol from your bloodstream.
Eggs are one of the healthiest food options and can be a great low cholesterol breakfast, especially for people who want to adopt a more cholesterol-friendly diet. Eggs are also high in protein, which is great for building muscle and leaving you feeling “full” for longer periods.
One large egg can contain as much as 207 mg of good cholesterol.
However, as is the case in most things, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, so this doesn’t mean that you should eat a dozen eggs a day. Some studies link too many eggs to an excess of cholesterol.
However, eating between one and three eggs per day is generally considered safe by cardiologists and dieticians.
Full-fat yogurts are also a great option that increases HDL while also providing plenty of protein. Typically, full-fat dairy products should be eaten in moderation, but full-fat yogurts provide a number of health benefits.
Finally, be sure that you’re getting plenty of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet. Scientists agree that five daily servings of fruits and vegetables is a good target for most people, but you can exceed that number, especially if you want to get your bad cholesterol in check.
Additionally, fruits and vegetables are great sources of fiber, which is important for gut health and several other body systems.
Getting your cholesterol under control takes some intentional decision-making. Before making any wholesale changes to your diet, be sure to consult with your physician.
By making the right choices at the supermarket, you can reduce your cholesterol and live a healthier, happier lifestyle.