4) Spice up your life. Research indicates cinnamon has proven heart protecting and healing properties. Cinnamon assists in the breakdown of bile sales which can reduce cholesterol. Generally using more spices and herbs to flavour your food allows you to reduce processed salt usage. If you eat a primarily whole food diet (minimal food in packets) you will need some extra salt use unprocessed mineral rich sea salt.
5) Moderate Alcohol intake. You have heard the stories that your heart likes a regular glass of wine. It’s true that a little each day, with a meal, can benefit heart health. This means two glasses or less! Anything more for women will increase the risk of liver disease and increase the risk of breast cancer by a whopping 60%.
6) Replace saturated fats with monounsaturated fats particularly olive oil. Unlike most other vegetable and seed oils, olive oil does not affect your good HDL cholesterol. This is why the olive oil rich Mediterranean diet gained popularity in the healing of high cholesterol.
7) Eat more omega oil loaded fish. Studies are clear that HDL levels are highest in fish eaters.
8) Stop deep frying and avoid heating vegetable and seed oils. Vegetable and seed oils are fragile and easily damaged by heat. Once damaged and unstable, these fat molecules may boost LDL cholesterol levels.
9) Use polyunsaturated fats like vegetable and seed oils in smaller amounts. Popular cooking oils like canola, soya, and sunflower do not usually help your cholesterol. They can be consumed in smaller quantities, providing you have an antioxidant rich diet (lots of vegetables and fruit). Plenty of antioxidants seem to balance the negative effects of polyunsaturated fats.
10) And remember, some fat is good! Becoming the anti-fat police is dangerous and depressing. Focus on the type of fats you consume instead. It is vital that you do eat healthy fats in your diet. Your body needs healthy fats for connective tissue repair, brain function and healthy cells. The best fats are monounsaturated (olive), omega oils and smaller amounts of polyunsaturated fats from nuts and seeds.
Lifestyle choices are equally important as diet. For the best chance of lowering LDL cholesterol stop smoking and get moving. 30 minutes exercise most days of the week and a smoke free body can raise the HDL cholesterol and lower LDL cholesterol.
You do have the power to be healthier, by choosing the best diet for high cholesterol and combining this with positive lifestyle choices. Inevitably the recommendations here may assist you to feel better and have more energy in all areas of your life. Be good to yourself. You deserve it!
P.S About eggs and cholesterol… Researchers from the University of Connecticut reported in 2006 that people’s bodies digest the cholesterol from eggs in a way that is least likely to harm the heart. This is partly because eggs contain half monounsaturated fats (like olive oil) ,which supports HDL cholesterol. So the LDL is balanced by the HDL. They also discovered that the cholesterol molecules are larger in eggs and less likely to become arterial plaques.
Copyright Wild Health and Anna Wilde 2007
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Anna Wilde works with people who want to improve their health naturally. Get the recipes and straight forward advice to stay motivated, and make reducing your cholesterol simple.
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