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Foods that Lower Cholesterol

In the last post on cholesterol we looked at the basic facts like what cholesterol is and what it does. In this post we will learn how to lower bad cholesterol in the body thus preventing heart attacks, strokes and other life threatening illnesses.

Diet that Lowers Cholesterol

Everyone should know right away that diet will lower your bad cholesterol levels if you know what you are doing. This has been scientifically proven.

Now, I am going to do my usual speech where I go against all the fancy reccomendations and say that your cholesterol will be lowered if you switch fromÂ�a diet of processed fast foods to a diet centered around natural, raw foods. You don’t need to worry too much about what specific foods you eat. Rather, you shoud focus on making diet choices that are aimed at being natural. Some of the best ways to lower cholesterol are:

• Buy organic ingredients whenever you can;
• Eat as much fruit and vegetables as you can;
• Switch from sodas and soft drinks to water;
• Eat fresh, free range meats and eggs;
• Eat fresh seafood at least once a week;

If you do just these few things you will see a drop in bad cholesterol levels within two weeks. I have heard this from many of my father’s friends at golf who changed to a natural diet and found a significant drop in the cholesterol levels.

Questions about cholesterol? Ask us -- Women's Fitness Forum.

Diet and Cholesterol Problems

The big problem for some people is not lowering their cholesterol but keeping it at those low levels for long periods of time. It is much like weight loss. Sometimes it isn’t the losing that is the hard part, it is the keeping it off!

To keep your cholesterol low you need to make some active decisions in your life so that you will change your old habits. You need to resolve to stick to your new natural diets and not slip back into your old ways. The more time you can spend with free flowing and healthy arteries the better your chances are of escaping a heart attack.

To stay away from bad cholesterol foods and habits think:

• about how you don’t want to die young;
• about how much better you feel when you have a clean and natural diet;
• about all the people you can help when you are alive and well;
• about how much CHEAPER it is to eat a natural diet

These things will help.

The WORST Foods for Cholesterol Problems

If you want to know what to avoid when you find out you have bad cholesterol levels then pay attention now. The worst offenders when it comes to bad cholesterol are:

• fatty meats;
• full fat dairy;
• some oils

The main thing you need to avoid, however, is SATURATED and TRANS FATTY ACIDS. These are almost always found in, yep you guessed it, processed biscuits, bakery goods, snack foods and some table spreads. So, to lower your cholesterol you need to look at what foods have high levels of saturated and trans fatty acids and avoid them.

A Dairy Note for Women

One thing I have been pondering is whether or not avoiding milk is a good idea for women who are likely to get osteoporosis when they get older. Milk and other dairy products are full of calcium and other nutrients like folate which women really need.

I thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to look at other ways to lower your bad cholesterol first before ditching the milk and dairy. If you still can’t lower it then switch to light milk and take a calcium supplement. There are always ways around these things.

Foods to Eat to Lower Cholesterol

Here is a simple list of the foods you should eat if you want to lower your cholesterol:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole Wheats and Cereals
• Specially designed margarine
• Nuts
• Oranges and onions are supposed to actively lower cholesterol instead of just being neutral foods
• Tofu
• Fish
• Any food high in fiber

These are the foods you should adopt if you wish to avoid a cholesterol related illness later in life.

Cholesterol and Exercise

Exercise is like diet in that it is proven beyond a doubt to be helpful in the fight against cholesterol. Lose weight and build muscle in order to strengthen your heart so it is more resistant to any bad cholesterol that you might have.

Does anyone have bad cholesterol levels? Is anyone doing anything about it?

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