cholesterol free foods and

What Is A Cholesterol Free Diet And Is It Good For Me?

Author: Gloria Gangi

Cholesterol has been a hot topic in the past ten years. People draw conclusions that if you have cholesterol you have a poor diet and have poor health, people also want to get rid of cholesterol without understanding what it is or how it affects your body.

People need to learn that there are in fact two types of cholesterol bad cholesterol (known as low density or LDL) and good cholesterol (known as high density or HDL). People do not realize that cholesterol is an essential substance in the human body but it depends on the levels that you have. If you were to choose a cholesterol free diet it could be very harmful to your wellbeing, HDL cholesterol are really extremely vital to certain bodily functions such as constructing and repairing cell walls. New research shows and even suggests that HDL cholesterol acts as a crude antioxidant.

You do not need to have a cholesterol free diet if there have been signs you or your family have had a history of heart problems or cardiovascular disease. Instead, understand what bad cholesterol you need to avoid and maintain the beneficial cholesterol in your diet. LDL cholesterol can certainly be challenging, as it has been associated with heart attacks as well as strokes, but it doesn't require a lot of effort to methodically eliminate it from your diet. Instead of trying to keeping away from cholesterol overall, steer clear of a cholesterol free diet and as a substitute look for foods that are low in LDL cholesterol and high in HDL cholesterol.

Is A Cholesterol Free Diet The Best Choice?


To find foods which are good for your health is not as hard a task as you may think as long as you know what you are looking for. Foods such as lean meat and fish are both good meat choices, and are also high in protein. Also choose low-fat dairy products and be sure to keep up with your grains, vegetable and fruit intake. A good diet to control or reduce your cholesterol would be around six servings of grains each day, three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruits.

This diet is not a hard one to follow and if your keep this strategy in place when shopping then you will be avoiding the products which contain the harmful LDL cholesterol. Remember to reduce your fat in take especially fats that have saturated fat as they tend to raise blood cholesterol levels. Avoid eating fried foods as well, choosing grilled, broiled and baked foods as a healthy alternative.

So the question of what is a cholesterol free diet and is it good for me is answered. A cholesterol free diet may not be the right decision if you want to keep your heart and body strong. By simply choosing a balanced diet will help you to weed out the bad cholesterol and keep the good cholesterol.

About the Author:

for more articles on cholesterol and how to reduce and control it please visit: http://www.yourcholesteroldiet.com/

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - What Is A Cholesterol Free Diet And Is It Good For Me?

Cholesterol Free Foods

Cooking A Cholesterol-Free Feast

Author: John Morris

When it comes to lowering one's cholesterol levels, it is a must that one changes his or her eating lifestyle. Cholesterol buildup in the body is actually caused by eating way too much of the sinful types of food like processed meat, fried food, sugar rich foods and beverages like chocolates (although dark chocolate, the bitter kind is actually proven to help lower one's cholesterol levels) and soft drinks.

1. Eliminate Catalyst Factors

It is also important to note that people who have bad lifestyle habits are the usual targets of having incredibly high cholesterol levels. Smoking and drinking are the common vices that people, not only those who are suffering from high cholesterol levels, should eliminate once and for all from their systems.

2. Cooking With No Cholesterol In Mind

- When buying cereals or microwavable pre-packed foods like t.v. dinners look at the labels on the side of the box to ensure that you are not going to take in excess calories and fat
- Being aware of what you take in is the first step in lowering high cholesterol
- Avoid restauraunts and fast food places that offer all you can eat meals or incredibly enormous meals
- The serving size listed on the packaging is sometimes misleading - a serving size is not always the total size of the package, it is often one-half or even less

3. Know How To Read Food Labels

Food labels are divided into two parts - the top half deals with aspects of food you should limit, such as total fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates and protein. The bottom is a summary of those you need, such as vitamins, iron, etc.

It is actually quite hard to understand what most food labels mean, in a way they are quite deceiving. You may think that you are eating healthy when in reality you are unknowingly taking in cholesterol, fat and calories in reduced levels. Here are a list of some of the claims that we can often find on our food's packaging according to the Food and Drugs Authority -

- Calorie-free -

This product has fewer calories per serving (around 5 calories less) than the leading brand. It does not mean the product contains no calories.

- Low-sodium -

This product contains less than 140mg of salt per food serving.

- Low-calorie -

The food is actually less than 40 calories per serving.

- Low-cholesterol -

Less than 20mg of cholesterol as well as only 2 grams of fat per food serving

- Reduced -

25 percent less of what health professionals specify for the nutrients as well as the calories of a usual food product of the same type

About the Author:
For more great cholesterol related articles and resources check out http://www.HelpForCholesterol.com>http://www.HelpForCholesterol.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/cooking-a-cholesterolfree-feast-14277.html