Designing a diet to lower cholesterol can seem like a drag, and it can often seem as though you’re having to forego all of the tastier things in life. Despite this however, tailoring your foods in order to lower your cholesterol is fairly straight forward and will improve many areas of your health and needn’t be entirely bland tasting.

A diet to lower cholesterol first needs to limit saturated fat, simple carbohydrates and sugars. This means you should avoid adding things like lard, oil, butter, sugar and salt to your diet where possible. At the same time you should avoid processed foods such as tinned food and microwave meals as these will likely have had many fats and sugars added to increase their flavour. Likewise you should avoid takeaways, deep fried chips and kebabs all of which utilise excessive fats inn their preparation. When eating meats a diet to lower cholesterol needs to focus on lean meat sources such as fish and chicken while avoiding steak, bacon, sausage, lamb etc. Meanwhile when eating eggs you should avoid eating the yolks where possible and you should opt for low fat dairy products such as skimmed milk.

Plant sources also contain fat however and these too need to be avoided where possible. For example, baked beans can increase your cholesterol, as can cocunuts. Avoid using oil in your cooking where possible and consult charts when deciding which foods to include in your cooking.

At the same time as monitoring your savoury snacks and protein intake, you also need to be cautious when eating sugary sweets and cakes and keep them as much to a limit as possible. At the same time you should keep an eye on what you drink and avoid drinking excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages as well as carbonated soft drinks such as coca cola and lemonade – both of which also have a high calorie count and are high in sugar.

As well as removing the fats and sugars from your diet though you also need to start increasing your intake of other things. Namely a diet to lower cholesterol needs to be high in fibre which can help clear out your intestinal tract, decreases the amount of cholesterol produced by the liver and improves bowl movements helping us to rid ourselves of excess cholesterol. As the amount of cholesterol our liver produces varies between individuals it’s entirely possible to eat a perfect diet and still register as having high cholesterol and for this reason dietary fibre is one of the most effective weapons in the battle against high cholesterol.

To improve the amount of fibre in your diet, increase your intake of fruits, wholegrain bread and cereals, oats, wheat and nuts. Particularly useful are citrus fruits, especially when eaten with the skin, and something like an apple a day can do wonders for your cholesterol (and so help keep the doctor away presumably). Garlic has been touted as one of the best substances to lower cholesterol both from being a source of fibre and for containing chemical allicin which can thin blood, kill bacteria and aid digestion. Similarly other foods with laxative properties such as prunes, dried apricots, apple (again) and interestingly polo mints… At the same time you should also increase your intake of diuretics such as tea and most importantly water. Drink lots of water.

Such a diet to lower cholesterol may seem fairly bland, but it’s actually closer to what we would have eaten in the wild and will help to improve your overall health in many other ways. Avoiding fats and sugars will also improve your blood pressure, reduce your chances of developing diabetes and lead to weight loss. There are many simple ways you can begin to alter your diet under the radar too; removing the butter from your bread, removing sugar and milk from your coffee, cooking in the oven or boiling in pots rather than frying, cooking with less oil, eating fewer puddings and replacing sugary drinks are all minor changes you can make that will instantly improve your cholesterol. Similarly simply eating less will improve your cholesterol – you’ll be getting less cholesterol as you’ll be getting less of everything. If you’re overweight then this is recommended as the first course of action.

At the same time however it’s unfortunately not quite so simple. The problem is that by eliminating so many elements of your diet you’ll be losing out on many essential amino acids, proteins and essential fats – the body is designed to be omnivorous for a reason and eliminating anything can mess up the delicate balance. For example, leaving out amino acids will make it impossible for the body to carry out maintenance and repairs and will prevent the growth of muscle.

More concerning in a diet to lower cholesterol is that by lower fat too much you can increase triglcerides and decrease HDL (high density lipoprotein). This is concerning as HDL is actually considered the ‘good’ cholesterol (LDL – low-density lipoprotein – is bad cholesterol) and such a diet can lead to a deficiency of vitamins and other nutrients. More to the point – a diet completely devoid of any protein or sugar will simply be too difficult to maintain and will leave you with cravings and a lack of energy. There’s no point changing your diet to lower cholesterol if there’s no way you can stick to it.

In order to prevent this from being a problem you need to find substitutes for the elements you’re leaving out of your diet. For protein for example you should look to lean sources such as chicken and fish, or alternatively vegetarian options such as quorn and tofu. This way you can still eat meals such as bolognaise and lasagne but won’t damage your cholesterol in the process. This way you’ll still be able to eat wholesome meaty meals and so won’t go looking for fatty snacks. At the same time your body will still have a supply of amino acids to build on for healing wounds and building muscle. It’s worth baring in mind however that quorn mince and other vegetarian alternatives do not contain the full compliment of amino acids, so supplementation is recommended. It’s also important that you get your essential fatty acids and again this can be achieved through supplementation with cod liver oil etc. Alternatively fish oils can also be found in fish (funny that) and interestingly Omega 3 is found in Kiwi Fruit.

Remember you are limiting your fat, not completely removing it.

As well as altering your diet to lower cholesterol however you should also aim to change various elements of your lifestyle. Firstly it’s important to exercise regularly as this will improve overall fitness and lower your cholesterol levels that way as well as through utilising food to burn for energy and to repair torn muscle tissue. Furthermore exercise will help you burn calories and lose weight – which can also contribute to cholesterol. You should also aim to improve your sleep and decrease stress in your life where possible as all of these things are relevant in maintaining our overall health. Finally, a doctor may prescribe medication for your cholesterol which should be taken regularly. If you are not prescribed any you may wish to look into it yourself and use a statin or other drug to aid the process (but beware of unwanted side effects).

Essentially then a diet to lower cholesterol should look much like an ordinary diet but healthier; it should include everything you’d normally eat but with the balance skewed slightly away from saturated fats and sugars and slightly more towards fibre. Eat lean sources of protein, avoid processed foods and takeaways, eat more fibre and drink lots more water. At the same time you should also increase you exercise and if necessary look into any medication that may be able to help.

Mack LeMouse

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