Low Cholesterol Diet Cautions and Breakthroughs

High cholesterol treatment programs that include diet therapy are aimed at lowering the amount of unhealthy fat and cholesterol you consume.

Serum cholesterol levels in a person's blood have served as a marker for coronary heart disease risk in hundreds of studies, and serum cholesterol levels appear to increase with a higher dietary intake of saturated fats. By adopting a low cholesterol diet you will help lower the amount of unhealthy fats you consume. This is one way of regulating your cholesterol levels and reducing your risk of developing coronary heart disease. Your healthcare provider or a qualified nutrition professional can help you design a low cholesterol diet that is nutritious and healthful. A low cholesterol diet should be carefully monitored in each individual.

Low Cholesterol Diet Options

There are different low cholesterol diet options available for lowering your cholesterol.

One option is the Mediterranean diet, which replaces saturated fats in the diet with monounsaturated fats. Studies indicate that this low cholesterol diet is one of the most effective diet therapy options for improving high cholesterol values. Substituting monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats for saturated fats in your diet can help lower your LDL-cholesterol levels without lowering your heart-protective HDL-cholesterol levels. Sources of monounsaturated fatty acids include olive oils, peanut oil, peanuts, and peanut butter. Recent studies indicate that almonds may lower LDL-cholesterol levels and help reduce the risk of heart disease.

The common low cholesterol Mediterranean diet has these characteristics:

high consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grain bread and other cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds
olive oil is an important monounsaturated fat source
dairy products, fish and poultry are consumed in low to moderate amounts, and little red meat is eaten
eggs are consumed zero to four times a week
wine is consumed in low to moderate amounts

Another low cholesterol diet recommendation involves reducing the total fat intake in a person's diet to 30 percent of daily calories, and limiting the amount of saturated fat in a person's diet to

10 percent of daily calories. Dietary cholesterol intake is limited to less than 300 milligrams per day in the first phase of this standard nutritional approach. Fat calories and dietary cholesterol are limited even further in the second step of this low cholesterol diet. These low cholesterol diet phases work especially well for those who wish to reduce their weight along with their cholesterol; however, this diet may lower heart-healthy HDL along with LDL cholesterol.

Your healthcare provider can help you determine which low cholesterol diet strategy is best for you.

Exercise to Achieve Low Cholesterol

Physical activity is considered an essential part of low cholesterol diet therapies aimed at reducing serum cholesterol levels. Combining weight reduction with exercise when treating overweight individuals with high cholesterol levels has a number of positive benefits. Not only

does this approach promote the reduction of high cholesterol levels, but it also can reduce other coronary heart disease risk factors by:

reducing blood pressure
reducing triglyceride levels
raising HDL cholesterol levels
decreasing diabetes risk

Speak with your healthcare provider for information on how to design a workout program and low cholesterol diet that is right for you.

Lower Cholesterol by Adding Magic Black Soy Beans to Diet

Black soy beans are being dubbed "magic beans" after a study found they can prevent diabetes, lower fat and low cholesterol levels and control weight.

A group of researchers from Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea, fed rats a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet but gave some a black soy bean supplement. They found that rats which received 10 per cent of their energy from black soy beans gained half as much weight as those which were not receiving the bean supplement.

The results, in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, also showed that total blood cholesterol in the rats given the bean supplement fell 25 per cent and LDL or bad cholesterol fell 60 per cent.

The livers of rats fed black soy beans also weighed less than those which were not fed the supplement.

Researchers believe that black soy beans may help prevent obesity and contribute to the prevention of type 2 diabetes because of the way they change fat composition. Yellow soy beans have already been shown to lower cholesterol and black beans have had health uses in the past.

"Yellow soy beans are generally used in conventional diets or soy products, whereas black soy beans have been used as a component in oriental medicines to treat diabetes, blood circulation, hypertension, inflammation (and) hormone-dependent disorders after childbirth," the study authors wrote.

Diabetes WA educator and dietitian Sophie McGough said the study's findings supported what was already known about legumes.

"Legumes are actually perfect parcels of goodness for diabetics because they're low in fat, they're high in fiber and they're low GI (glycemic index)," she said.

Because soy beans had a low GI they could help diabetics keep their blood glucose levels under control.

"There's no one food that's going to be a magic bullet for diabetes but in the context of a healthy diet, legumes can be a great substitute for white bread or potatoes," she said. Nutritionist Jo Beer said the study was good news if it meant people would include more soy in their diet.

"Anything that's going to make people eat a little bit more fiber in their diet is going to be good and to make them more aware of these products that are around and that we know are good for you," she said. Canned black soy beans are available at some Oriental food stores and health food stores.

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