Food To Avoid If You Have High Cholesterol Level

food to avoid if you have high cholesterol

Cholesterol

Due to bad living habits, many young people are diagnosed with high cholesterol. In the old days, cholesterol is more common to affect old people. But now, in these modern days, the eating habit and poor living style become one of the major factors that increase the chance of getting high cholesterol, not only for old people but also for young people.

People who have high cholesterol need to avoid high-fat food that can cause cholesterol. Not only that, people with a history or risk of stroke, high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes are also advised to limit fatty food that can trigger cholesterol such as fast food, fried food, milk, offals, and cheese.

If you get the word about cholesterol, doesn't mean it's all bad for your body's health. Cholesterol itself has important functions in our body. Cholesterol is a component of fat that plays role in keeping all the cells and body tissues to keep functioning.

Even though the presence of cholesterol is important in our body, the amount of cholesterol should not exceed the normal limits. High cholesterol will lead to many health problems, including cardiovascular disease, and increase the risk to develop heart disease. 

Not only that, having high cholesterol will make your body prone to developing obesity as well. The maximum cholesterol present in the body is limited to no more than 200mg per day.

Benefits of Cholesterol

Many people often misunderstood the existence of Cholesterol. They thought all the cholesterol are bad for body health. For your information, your body organ, the liver, produces 3 types of cholesterol. There is High-Density Lipoprotein - HDL - or known as good cholesterol, and Low-Density Lipoprotein - LDL- or known as bad cholesterol and triglycerides.

A person is said to have normal cholesterol levels if the amount of HDL is more than 60 mg/dL, triglycerides are less than 150 mg/dL, and LDL is less than 100 mg/dL.

Cholesterol is needed for metabolic processes. Cholesterol helps the body during the process of vitamin D, bile production, and several productions of hormones, such as estrogen, cortisol, progesterone, and testosterone.

Food to avoid if you have high cholesterol

Cholesterol is not only produced by your liver but in fact, cholesterol also can be found in your food. Below is the list of the food to avoid if you have high cholesterol levels.

1. Fast food

Fast foods are not only high in sodium which is bad for your blood pressure, but they also contain cholesterol of around 85mg to 180mg per serving. Fast foods such as hamburgers, pizza, fried chicken, and others will make your body get addicted and give you a higher chance to develop obesity. The amount of cholesterol level in your body will go up if you accompany eating that kind of food with sodas and any other fried food such as french fries.

Limiting fast food is important in order to control the cholesterol level in your body. Not only that, limiting the consumption of fast food will help you to reduce the risk of getting serious diseases such as stroke and heart health.

2. Ice Cream

Ice cream is nice when you eat it during the summertime. But, please be careful. Overeating of ice cream will cause your cholesterol level to jump to the ceiling. Ice cream is known to be a hidden source of cholesterol. The cholesterol levels in ice cream are even bigger compared to doughnuts or even burgers.

Wise advice if you want something fresh but healthy and definitely lower in cholesterol, you can make your own smoothies that are filled up with high antioxidant fruits and at the same time, it can help you to satisfy your craving. Not only that, you can even eat a whole fruit that is rich in nutrients, antioxidants, and fiber but low in cholesterol. Fruits are also natural food to reduce your cholesterol levels.

3. Steak

One of the delicious food that is difficult to avoid is steak. Many people love to eat beef steak either medium-rare or fully cooked. But who knows that beef steak is actually one of the foods you need to avoid due to the high levels of cholesterol. Beef steak contains a lot of saturated fat and cholesterol which can cause your body to get extra fat.

For people who still want to enjoy the juicy and delicious beef steak, you still can enjoy this delicious food by eating in moderation and choosing the lean meat part, which contains lower cholesterol. Beef flank is one of the best parts that have lean meat with lower cholesterol.

For your information, usually, a piece of beef with lean meat has about 300 mg of cholesterol. If you still want to eat steak, another better option is replacing your beef with lamb. Cholesterol content in lamb is around 100–150 mg, therefore lamb will be a good option compared to beef.

4. Eggs

Eggs are one of the highest protein sources, that often to be consumed during breakfast time. Not only that, eggs that are packed with nutrients and antioxidants, are good to increase your immune system.

Eggs are not only rich in nutrients, but they contain high cholesterol as well. Therefore, consumption of eggs should be limited.  People who tend to have high cholesterol levels are still able to eat at least 4 to 6 eggs per week.

If you already got your eggs during breakfast time, you need to avoid other fatty food during your lunch or dinner time.

5. Seafood

Seafood is one of the best delicious food in this world. But unfortunately, some people can get allergic reactions due to this food. Seafood is usually high in omega-3 and zinc, which are very good to support your body's health. 

But, certain types of seafood such as prawns, crab, and lobster are high in cholesterol. As an example, 100gr of lobster contained at least 70mg of cholesterol.

If you still want to eat seafood without gaining cholesterol intake, choosing other dishes such as fish is the better option. Steamed, boiled, or baked seafood always being better option rather than fried seafood.

6. Offal

Many people don't like to eat Offal, but some people love to enjoy this kind of food. The offal is a part of the animal organ such as the brain, intestines, lungs, and tripe. That organ is proven to contain more cholesterol compared to the meat parts.

Not only contain high cholesterol, but offal also contains a lot of uric acids. Over consumption of offal will cause you to suffer from high uric acid and also cholesterol.

7. Duck Meat

Many people love to eat duck meat due to the authentic flavor that only can be found in duck. There's also a very famous cuisine called Peking Duck, which really pampered your tongue.

However, the fact about this duck meat might be shocking to you. Duck meat contains a very high level of cholesterol, compared to chicken. In 100grams of chicken, it contains around 60mg of cholesterol, while duck meat, it contains 80 mg of cholesterol.

If You still want to enjoy the tastiness of duck meat, many doctors advised removing the duck skin to reduce cholesterol levels.

8. Cheese and Milk

Another big source of cholesterol is Milk and Cheese. Most milk and cheese are full of nutrients, but also high in saturated fat.

People who have high cholesterol need to eat moderate amounts or simply choose low-fat cheese to avoid the rise in cholesterol levels.

Summary

After you knowing about food to avoid if you have high cholesterol level above, doesn't mean you need to give up on all those kind of food. You still can eat the above types of food as long as you eat in moderation.

Being careful and selective in choosing your food are important to keep your cholesterol level always in the tract. Having a balanced diet of food that is rich in nutrients and fiber, such as nuts, vegetables, and fruits, will lower your cholesterol naturally.

In addition, having a regular medical check-up, especially for your cholesterol levels will help your body to avoid the risk of developing any other serious diseases due to high cholesterol levels in the body.

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