Decreasing a high level of cholesterol

Groshan Fabiola

Generally patients find out about the fact that they have a high level of cholesterol in the blood during the regular blood tests they take. Before prescribing them a treatment based on pills most doctors prefer to try other methods first. They recommend the patient to lose some weigh and to keep a diet for a while. Loosing weight is important in the process of reducing the level of cholesterol and so exercising and other weight loss resources should be considered. Also, the patients should be careful what they eat, especially what amount of fat they digest.

Specialists recommend the patients to make sure the diet contains less that 30% fats. It is important to be careful what type of fats patients eat. There are three types of fats: saturate, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. Those foods that contain saturate fats are dangerous for the patient because they increase the level of cholesterol in the blood and so they should be eaten in small amounts and even avoided. These dangerous aliments are: fatty meats, butter, cheese, cream, and processed foods.

The pre-processed foods and takeaway ones are harmful because they get "bad" during their processing. These foods do not contain a label where it is written the substances they contain but you can pay attention to the ingredients producers used. If you see hydrogenated fat or oil you can be sure that they are unhealthy and should reduce consuming them as much as possible.

The monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are good for the organism as they reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood. These precious aliments are: vegetable oils, soya oil, margarines, seeds, olive oil, avocado and nuts. The most important thing is to avoid frying the food but if this is necessary try to do that in olive oil and not in butter.

Besides concentrating about eliminating fats from your diet, you should make sure you eat oats, barley, pulses and fruits because they contain soluble fiber which is useful in lowering the cholesterol level and are low in fat too.

Try to eat daily at least 25 grams of soya protein because it has been proven to be healthy. It seems that it lowers efficiently the level of cholesterol by lowering both the low density lipoproteins and the total cholesterol. You can get 25 grams of soya by drinking three glasses of soya milk, but try to avoid those varieties which contain sweet. Of course, soya can also be found in other products like special yoghurt, creams and soya deserts but you must pay attention to the calories these products contain.