Dealing with high cholesterol can be a difficult process. There are many things that you can do to lower you cholesterol and get your numbers back into a healthy or normal range. Did you know, that one of the best (and easiest) things that you can do for your high cholesterol is to incorporate foods for reducing cholesterol into your daily diet? It doesn’t take much more than that to totally change your cholesterol for the better.
Typically when high cholesterol numbers come in, your doctor will first tell you to change your diet. This means cutting out all the yummy, but bad for you foods; like French fries, pizza, burgers, and steak. It’s sad to cut out favorite foods. But it doesn’t have to be all bad.
Often you can make small changes to the foods you love and add in foods for reducing cholesterol and often just those two things together will be enough for a serious decrease in your high cholesterol levels.
When it comes to your favorite dishes the best thing to do is the look at them in a new way. First, look at your favorite meals and see if there is a way to switch out some of the ingredient for healthier options. For example; change any meats into leaner cuts or into chicken, turkey or tofu choices. With dairy, opt for the low fat or non fat options. If you use canned goods or broth in your cooking pick the low sodium or non fat varieties. Add in vegetables whenever possible.
On top of making small changes to the foods you already love, try to add in a few healthier foods for reducing cholesterol into your daily routine. Here are a few ideas on how to add in foods for reducing cholesterol into your meal plans.
Breakfast – try to have a breakfast of oatmeal every morning. Oats are high in soluble fiber; which helps to move cholesterol through your body and prevents it from absorbing into your blood stream. Oats have been proven to help lower cholesterol levels when regularly added to the diet. But watch out for sugar and syrup additives. These foods are often high in saturated fats and sugars which are counter-productive to your cholesterol health. Instead add blueberries or sliced strawberries to your morning oatmeal and get the added benefits of antioxidants.
Snack – add a handful of walnuts or almonds into your daily snack. Nuts are high in fats that are good for you and your cholesterol. But they are also high in calories, so keep your snack to just a handful.
Lunch or Dinner – try for a salmon salad with an olive oil vinaigrette for your large daily meal. Salmon is one of the best foods for reducing cholesterol. Not only will it help to lower high bad cholesterol, but it will help to increase the good cholesterol. Adding the olive oil will also help to keep your arteries running clear and clean.
Drinks – add in a couple cups of orange juice into your day. Orange juice is high in antioxidants and other minerals that are good for lowering cholesterol. Green tea is another of the foods for reducing cholesterol, just make sure you drink enough cups of it to make a difference to your health.