Introduction
If you have high cholesterol, it’s important to make changes to your diet to help lower your levels. Eating habits that are high in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol can increase your risk of developing heart disease. Dietitians recommend avoiding certain foods and eating habits to help reduce your cholesterol levels. Eating a balanced diet that is low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of developing heart disease. Eating habits to avoid if you have high cholesterol include eating processed and fried foods, eating large portions, and eating foods high in sugar and refined carbohydrates. Eating a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins can help you maintain a healthy cholesterol level.
Eating Habits to Avoid If You Have High Cholesterol, Say Dietitians
If you have high cholesterol, it’s important to make changes to your diet to help lower your levels. Dietitians recommend avoiding certain eating habits that can contribute to high cholesterol levels.
1. Eating Too Much Red Meat
Red meat is high in saturated fat, which can raise your cholesterol levels. Dietitians recommend limiting your intake of red meat to no more than two servings per week. Choose lean cuts of meat, such as sirloin or flank steak, and trim away any visible fat.
2. Eating Too Much Processed Food
Processed foods are often high in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. These unhealthy fats can raise your cholesterol levels. Dietitians recommend avoiding processed foods as much as possible and instead opting for fresh, whole foods.
3. Eating Too Much Sugar
Eating too much sugar can lead to weight gain, which can raise your cholesterol levels. Dietitians recommend limiting your intake of added sugars, such as those found in candy, cakes, and cookies. Instead, opt for naturally sweet foods, such as fresh fruit.
4. Eating Too Much Salt
Eating too much salt can raise your blood pressure, which can lead to high cholesterol. Dietitians recommend limiting your intake of salt to no more than 2,300 milligrams per day. Choose low-sodium options when possible and avoid adding extra salt to your food.
5. Eating Too Much Trans Fat
Trans fat is found in many processed foods and can raise your cholesterol levels. Dietitians recommend avoiding foods that contain trans fat, such as fried foods, processed snacks, and baked goods. Instead, opt for foods that contain healthy fats, such as nuts, seeds, and avocados.
Bottom Line
If you have high cholesterol, it’s important to make changes to your diet to help lower your levels. Dietitians recommend avoiding certain eating habits, such as eating too much red meat, processed food, sugar, salt, and trans fat. Instead, opt for fresh, whole foods that are low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
Having high cholesterol is quite common in the US. In fact, nearly 1 in 3 adult Americans have this condition – making it a popular condition that people are focused on improving.
Unfortunately, while many people know the risks associated with having high cholesterol, including an increased risk of stroke, many people do not know how to lower or manage their levels, keeping them at risk for some unsavory outcomes.
While medication and exercise can certainly help improve cholesterol levels in some cases, dietary choices can have a profound impact as well. And while many people know that living off of fast food burgers and fries isn’t the best thing to do when they are managing high cholesterol, there are some less-obvious eating habits that may be negatively impacting their cholesterol levels that they may be doing every day.
If you are trying to manage your cholesterol level via dietary choices, here are seven eating habits to avoid if you have high cholesterol, according to registered dietitians. Read on, and for more on how to eat healthy, don’t miss 7 Healthiest Foods to Eat Right Now.
It may sound intuitive to eat low cholesterol foods when you are trying to reduce your cholesterol level, but according to Sarah Pflugradt, MS, RDN, CSCS, owner of Sarah Pflugradt Nutrition. “There isn’t enough evidence to support that [reducing] dietary cholesterol affects blood cholesterol.” In fact, the data is so weak surrounding this link that this recommendation is no longer included in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Instead, she suggests people focus on reducing saturated fat and increasing fiber intake to reduce cholesterol levels.
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Losing weight, regaining it, and repeating this pattern over and over again can have adverse effects on cardiovascular risk factors, Cara Harbstreet, MS, RD, LD of Street Smart Nutrition, explains. “Adults, especially women, who weight cycle through dieting tend to have worse HDL and LDL profiles (even in ‘normal’ BMI categories) according to NHANES data when compared to adults who remained weight stable even at higher weights.”
Your best bet is to follow a sustainable weight management plan and stick with it.
While different meats can be a natural source of protein, vitamins, and minerals, certain cuts can contain large amounts of saturated fat. And when saturated fat is “consumed in excess, this can adversely affect cholesterol levels,” Jinan Banna, PhD, RD explains.
If you happen to be a carnivore and skipping meat is not an option, sticking to leaner choices like flank steak is your best bet.
“Eating too many added sugars can lower your ‘good’ HDL cholesterol,” Anya Rosen, MS, RD, LD, CPT explains. From candies to cakes to even the sugar you add to your coffee, this ingredient can add up over the day and can play a negative role on your overall health. Opt for fresh fruit if you need the taste of sweetness with no added sugars.
A staggering 95% of Americans are not taking in the recommended amount of fiber, so clearly skimping on this nutrient is not uncommon.
But skipping fiber, especially soluble fiber, can make lowering cholesterol challenging, explains Elysia Cartlidge, MAN, RD, highlighting that the soluble variety can help lower the LDL “bad” cholesterol in many people.
“Be sure to regularly include foods like oats, barley, apples, beans, flaxseed, and chia seeds to ensure that you’re getting sufficient amounts of soluble fiber to keep those cholesterol levels in check,” Cartlidge advises.
While eating a diet rich in saturated fat isn’t the best idea when it comes to cholesterol management, there are other fats that can actually be important additions to your diet. Foods that are rich in healthy fats, including nuts, avocados, seeds, and fish should be encouraged
Your mom wasn’t wrong when she encouraged you to eat your vegetables every day. Eating a diet rich in certain vegetables, especially cruciferous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower, has been linked to lower LDL cholesterol levels. Perhaps there actually is something to the cauliflower trend after all!
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