Worrying about cholesterol is something you do every day like having a constant heart burn.
The last time you went and got your blood checked who was there?
Doctor Who.
He told you that you have high cholesterol but failed to leave out the good part, is it bad?
Yes, of course it's bad if you have high cholesterol.
Chances are that you were not alone. Battling cholesterol doesn't stop with you and me. It's a problem that all of us have to face sooner or later.
Luckily enough, there are foods you can eat to lower your cholesterol but don't get up so fast; there is more to the lowering cholesterol diet than you think.
- Good versus bad cholesterol
- Cholesterol lowering nutrition
- Foods to lower you cholesterol
- Lowering cholesterol beyond dieting
What is good and bad cholesterol?
Before I dive into what foods you can eat to lower you cholesterol, let's talk a little about what cholesterol is first. I strongly advise that you remain calm throughout the discussion. We wouldn't want your blood pressure to shoot up, would we?
There are two kinds of cholesterol, the good and the bad.
Good Cholesterol
Good cholesterol is also known as HDL cholesterol, which stands for high density lipoprotein cholesterol. It floats around in your blood steam. In contrast to bad cholesterol, which we are going to break into in just a moment, good cholesterol is said to help pluck off cholesterol sticking to the walls of your blood vessels. In other words, good cholesterol helps out in the recover and removal of cholesterol.
Bad Cholesterol
Bad cholesterol is known as LDL cholesterol that as you would have guess is the low octane version of good cholesterol, (or in more concise words) low density lipoprotein cholesterol. It has the opposite effect of good cholesterol, sticking to the walls of your blood vessels attributing to high levels of blood pressure.
As you see, good and bad cholesterol work against each other. So how do you increase the number of good cholesterol on your side? - That will lead us into our next discussion, cholesterol-lowering nutrition.
Nutrition for lowering cholesterol naturally
Here are a few bits about nutrition you need to diet for lowering cholesterol.
As you blood pressure starts to rise you may be in a hurry. Don't hurry! - There are more vitamins for lowing cholesterol to go around.
Now let's dive into the nutrition you will need for lowering your cholesterol the natural way.
MONOUNSATURATED FATTY ACID
Monounsaturated fatty acids are found in healthy oils used for cooking such as Olive Oil and Canola Oil.
Vegetable oil is said to be an excellent source of monounsaturated fatty acid.
Most monounsaturated fatty acids are made up of oleic acid, a fatty acid that can also be produced internally by the body.
Although oleic acid is considered inferior to the polyunsaturated fatty acid linoleic acid, it still can help you lower bad cholesterol while helping you maintain good cholesterol.
POLYUNSATURATED FATTY ACID
Polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid, gamma linoleic acid, arachidonic acid are said to be richly found in Soybean Oil help reduce bad cholesterol.
Linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid that can't be produced by the body internally, helps lower cholesterol levels in your body.
One drawback to using polyunsaturated fats for lowering cholesterol is that what happens is that it will also lower good cholesterol. This means you need to be careful when lowering cholesterol with polyunsaturated fatty acids.
ERITADENINE
Eritadenine is a substance found in Shiitake Mushrooms that can help lower your cholesterol.
Combined with dietary fiber it is said to aid in the lowing of cholesterol.
Shiitake exposed to heat during harvesting is higher in eritadenine content than shiitake mushrooms that are not.
Eating shiitake mushrooms gives you eritadenine that could help lower cholesterol.
SOLUBLE DIETARY FIBER
Water soluble dietary fiber has been found to inhibit the rise of cholesterol levels giving you what you need to control cholesterol.
Barley in particular contains beta glucan. Eating a diet rich in dietary fiber is said to help with lowering cholesterol.
Some soluble dietary fibers such as that found in Acacia Gum that have little effect on the lowering of cholesterol in your body.
Soluble fiber found in high pectin fruits such as apple and Guar Gum are said to be effective in lowering cholesterol.
SOY PROTEIN ・SOY ISOFLAVONE
In Soybeans are soy protein and soy isoflavone that are good for reducing cholesterol and for unclogging arteries. Soy isoflavone and soy protein work together to lower your cholesterol.
Soy isoflavone works in the same way aprevent osteoporosiss estrogen. It is said to help increase bone density, giving women a proactive approach to .
FUCOSTEROL
Fucosterol is a substance found in seaweed said to be effective in reducing cholesterol. Edible Brown Algae such as wakame and hijiki amongst others are said to be rich sources of fucosterol.
7 Foods for lowering cholesterol
For lowering your cholesterol eating foods containing nutrition to lower your cholesterol levels is the key to making the lowering cholesterol diet work for you.
However, don't start stomping your feet just yet. After you get these foods in your diet there is another ingredient that is going to help with lowering cholesterol. That is exercise and a good night of sleep.
Until then here are some cholesterol lowering foods to try your socks on.
VEGETABLES Shiitake Mushrooms
Shiitake Mushrooms are rich in eritadenine for lowering cholesterol. They can be cooked and boiled with little difficulty. Eating shiitake mushrooms is also something to try out.
SOY Food Made From Soybeans
Soy food is an excellent source of high quality protein as well as soy lecithin that can easily be incorporated into any diet. Most people aren't aware that drinking soy milk helps lower your cholesterol. However, that's not the only way you can get the cholesterol lowering benefits of eating soy food. Give eating natto fermented soybeans and tofu a try!
List of soy foods
SEAWEED Edible Brown Algae
Edible brown algae is contains fucosterol, a substance said to help lower cholesterol. In addition to being a rich source of cholesterol-lowering fucosterol, most seaweed acts as a good source of iron that helps to prevent iron deficiency in women.
List of edible seaweed
OTHER Cholesterol Lowering Foods
Here are some other option you have for eating foods to help lower your cholesterol.
List of cholesterol lowering foods
- BLUE-BACKED FISH Tuna / Mackerel / Japanese Pilchard / Pacific Saury / Yellowtail
Blue backed fish are rich in DHA and EPA for lowering cholesterol in addition to increasing brown power. That's right! - Eating blue backed fish is fuel for your brain and lowering cholesterol. - VEGETABLE OIL Olive Oil / Canola Oil
Vegetable oils give you both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids to reduce cholesterol. In addition to cooking oil you can get oleic acid from eating Almonds. As you know now oleic acid helps lower cholesterol. The biggest setback to trying to lower cholesterol with vegetable oil is that can turn high in calories fast. Just try not to have too much and you should be fine. - FRUIT Apples
Eating apples or any other food containing the dietary fiber pectin has been shown to help reduce cholesterol. In particular, pectin works to lower bad cholesterol. - GRAINS Rice / Barley / Millet Grain / Proso Millet
Grains help lower cholesterol. Barley in particular contains the water soluble dietary fiber beta glucagon that is good for lowering cholesterol.
Eating cholesterol lowering foods is not enough!
Although getting the nutrition you need for lowering cholesterol eating cholesterol lowering foods on a regular basis can lower your cholesterol. The truth of the matter is that bad cholesterol doesn't go away that fast!
Exercise
Having high cholesterol is said to be linked to the lack of exercise amongst many other potential causes. The best way to lower bad cholesterol that is to raise the amount of good cholesterol you have is regular exercise.
Sleep
Whether you like it or not, lack of sleep always translates into built up stress that may increase your cholesterol. So if you think you may be suffering from lack of sleep, it may be a sign that you should consider reforming your lifestyle habits.
