Foods To Avoid For Lower Cholesterol

The food that you eat, and the manner in which it is prepared, has a significant bearing on your cholesterol level. You should be careful when choosing your diet in order to improve not only your cholesterol level but your overall health.

However, there's no need to suffer unduly by doing this. There are plenty of low fat alternatives available today - and sometimes it's more a case of changing the preparation method than the raw ingredients.

You might also want to have some fun experimenting with different, healthier foodstuffs that you haven't tried before. For example, venison is a low fat, lean meat that many people haven't tried. It's good for you and is very tasty. If you're feeling really adventurous then why not try ostrich, or maybe even crocodile? You never know, you might even prefer it to some of the more traditional items in your current diet.

Listed below are some foods to avoid.

Fast Food
Avoid burgers, chips (fries), hot dogs, fried chicken, tacos etc. Not only are the foods themselves bad but the manner of preparation is unlikely to help you in your bid to lower cholesterol.

Fatty Meats
Try not to eat fatty meats such as corned beef, pastrami, salami, sausages, bacon etc. You can use lean cuts of meat instead - try skinless chicken or turkey, lean beef, pork and veal or fish. You can even experiment with unusual meats such as ostrich and venison.

High Cholesterol Foods
Limit the use of foodstuffs which contain cholesterol - egg yolks, liver and kidneys fall into this category.

Dairy Products
Avoid the use of any full fat dairy products such as milk, yoghurt, cream, butter, margarine, cheese etc. There are plenty of low fat alternatives these days and once you've been using these for a few days you won't even notice the difference. Try dipping bread in olive oil instead of using butter or margarine - or try a special cholesterol reducing spread. Some of these are quite a bit more expensive than normal spreads - but supermarkets are beginning to bring out their own brands and prices are falling.

Trans-fatty Acids and Hydrogenated Oils
Hydrogenation is a process which makes oil solid, or semi solid, at room temperature. Trans fatty acids and hydrogenated oils are found in shortcrust pastry (shortening), biscuits, hard margarines, snack crackers, crisps (chips) and cookies.

Rich Baked Items
Don't eat baked items which have high amounts of butter or fat in them. Croissants, pastries, cheese breads, muffins, doughnuts etc. Try whole grain breads, crackers and muffins instead.