Diet Chart For Low Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that's found in all the cells in your body. Your body needs some cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help you digest foods. Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs. Cholesterol is also found in some of the foods you eat. If you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can combine with other substances in the blood to form plaque. Plaque sticks to the walls of your arteries. This buildup of plaque is known as atherosclerosis. It can lead to coronary artery disease, where your arteries become narrow or even blocked. There are two main types of cholesterol: HDL stands for high-density lipoproteins. It is called the "good" cholesterol because it carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver. Your liver then removes the cholesterol from your body.

LDL stands for low-density lipoproteins. It is called the "bad" cholesterol because a high LDL level leads to a buildup of cholesterol in your arteries. If you have large deposits of plaque in your arteries, an area of plaque can rupture (break open). This can cause a blood clot to form on the surface of the plaque. If the clot becomes large enough, it can mostly or completely block blood flow in a coronary artery. If the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your heart muscle is reduced or blocked, it can cause angina (chest pain) or a heart attack. Plaque also can build up in other arteries in your body, such as the arteries that bring oxygen-rich blood to your brain and limbs. This can lead to problems such as carotid artery disease, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease.

Cholesterol is in foods that come from animal sources, such as egg yolks, meat, and cheese. Other foods have fats that raise your cholesterol level. For example, saturated fat raises your LDL (bad) cholesterol level more than anything else in your diet. Saturated fat is found in some meats, dairy products, chocolate, baked goods, and deep-fried and processed foods. Another type of fat, trans fats, raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower HDL (good) cholesterol. Trans fats are made when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to harden it. Trans fats are in some fried and processed foods.

Do's:

1. Hydrate yourself with coconut water, soups and other liquids.
2. Include green leafy vegetables including cabbage in your diet regularly.
3. Consume omega-3 fatty acid rich foods such as fish(trout/salmon/sardine/mackerel/tuna) in stewed form, flax/ chia seeds, almonds, walnuts.
4. Do consume vit-c rich foods like oranges, lime, pine apple, berries (strawberry, blueberry, black berry), amla, guava.

Don'ts:

1. Avoid sugary foods, junk foods and bakery foods.
2. Try not to consume caffeinated and carbonated beverages.
3. Avoid alcohol and smoking.
4. Avoid processed and frozen foods.
5. Avoid oily and fatty foods and meats, red meat, spicy foods.

1. Cereal: Brown rice, whole wheat, oats, jowar, bajra, ragi
2. Pulses: red gram, green gram, black gram, bengal gram
3. Vegetables: all gourds-bitter gourd, snake gourd, ridge gourd, bottle gourd, ivy gourd, ladies finger, tinda,green leafy vegetables
4. Fruits: banana, citrus fruits-orange, mousambi, grape fruit, lemon; berries-strawberry, blueberry, black berry; cranberry, cherries, papaya, pineapple, avocado, guava.
5. Milk and milk products: low fat milk, low fat curd, low fat paneer.
6. Meat,fish & egg: Skin out chicken, egg white, fish like salmon, sardines, trout, mackerel, tuna.
7. Oil: 2 tsp (10ml)
8. Sugar: 2 tsp (10gm)
9. Other beverages: green tea.