High cholesterol is invisible dangers which can cause severe damage to human body and to measure high cholesterol doctors examine the level of HDL, LDL and triglyceride levels in body. The bad cholesterol or the LDL cholesterol accumulates in the inner walls of arteries and it can block the passage whereas the HDL cholesterol is helpful in preventing blockages.

Cholesterol level determination

To test cholesterol the lipid level is examined in which the total cholesterol is measure in milligrams per deciliter. The LDL cholesterol should not exceed 100 mg per deciliter and triglycerides should be less than 150 mg per deciliter. The cholesterol level is mostly determined by the diet and the living style. Cholesterol is a kind of wax like substance found in most of the food products. Food products such as dairy product, meat, fish, and poultry contain a good amount of dietary cholesterol. Fish has less cholesterol and food products made from certain plants grains, nuts and seeds have almost no cholesterol.

Cholesterol is not fat but it can be found in high quantity in food products which are high in fat. Some of the highest amount of cholesterol is found in egg yolk and organ meat and in the human body pancreas function is to produce cholesterol, therefore, cholesterol from diet is not required.

Truths and Myths of low cholesterol diet

1. One can opt to eat low cholesterol diet in which vegetarian food and Mediterranean diet is included. The diet should include a good amount of fruits, grains and vegetables and a low amount of non vegetarian food such as red meat, fish and grains should be taken. The intake of wine should be reduced.

2. To reduce intake of cholesterol use unsaturated fat instead of saturated fat. One can take saturated fats which is found in cooking oil extracted from sunflower, cotton seeds, soybeans, corn but if the oil comes with a label called Hydrogenated, one should avoid it because it means the poly-saturated fat has been converted to saturated fat and it will not be helpful in reducing cholesterol instead it can be very harmful. The vegetable oils undergo the process of hydrogenation which makes it solid. Tans fat found in such oil can cause narrowing of arteries and heart disease.

3. Fish products are high in mega 3 fatty acids and it is said to be helpful in reducing the bad cholesterol but long term ingestion of fish should be taken only on advice of a physician.

4. Taking food products high in mono saturated fats is also helpful. Olive oil and canola oil are rich in mono-saturated fats and it helps in reducing blood cholesterol.

5. One should reduce intake of dietary fat both saturated and unsaturated to reduce cholesterol levels.

6. People who are overweight should reduce weight to reduce cholesterol because when the total amount of fat is reduced the total amount of saturated fat reduces. A very high amount of saturated fat is present in food products such as whole milk, ice cream, cheese, butter etc.

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