Heart disease and strokes are usually linked to high cholesterol so it has always had a bad press. Recent figures point to the alarming fact that a lot more younger people are now on drugs to lower their cholesterol. These figures do nothing to reassure us that the obesity epidemic is abating.
One usually thinks that cholesterol lowering drugs are taken by older people but the dramatic increase in the younger age group 20 - 44 is causing some concern. The increase in this age group has spiked by 70% in the last five years. It could be that younger people have fewer problems in taking drugs for this condition, but the fact remains that high cholesterol is a major health issue.
Statins are the most common cholesterol lowering drug on the market to-day. They work by inhibiting the formation of cholesterol early on by producing receptors which can clean the cholesterol from the blood before it starts depositing plaque in the arteries. Many people worry that the side effects of these drugs are potentially damaging and if you are one of those people, you may want to solve your cholesterol problem by just adopting a healthier diet. I outline below my favourite top four foods which have been proved to lower cholesterol.
Tomatoes are top of my list becausre they contain lycopene. This substance prevents the oxidation of LDL (bad cholesterol) before it can start causing damage. Research has shown that lycopene has a role in lowering this tye of cholesterol so include plenty fo tomatoes in your diet, preferably cooked.
There have been lots of studies done on Eskimos to ascertain why their levels of heart disease and cholesterol are lower than ours. Because they eat lots of fish such as whale meat which contains good fats such as Omega-3, they live longer healthier lives than we do. So, my second top food is high fat fish such as mackerel, herring, trout, sardines and wild salmon which should be baked or grilled. Other great sources of Omega -3 are flaxseed and canola oil.
Soy comes third for me, mainly because it contains heaps of vitamins and minerals and it is a great source of low-fat protein so it saves me eating red meat or eggs to get that protein. Actually as regards blood pressure and cholesterol, the American Heart Association found that the effect was minimal. It is still in my top four foods because the nutrients I have listed above.
My fourth one is nuts, any and all - walnuts, almonds, peanuts, cashews, macadamias, etc. Nuts are great sources of healthy unprocessed fats (including Omega-3 ) as well as minerals and other trace nutrients. Aim for 20% of calories provided by nuts in your daily calorie intake. Let us say you are on 1,200 calories a day - then that would be around 200 calories. This has been shown to reduce your cholesterol by around 12%. Not bad, just for one small change in your diet.
Most of these foods I have outlined above are in the Mediterranean Diet which has been the object of much research around the world. Researchers have found that this diet is a great help in reducing high cholesterol and heart disease. Cancer rates and number of heart attacks are much lower in Mediterranean countries and this is due, they say, to their diet.
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