Foods High In Cholesterol
Increase Your LDL Bad Cholesterol

Foods High in cholesterol also Increase your Risk of Heart Attack.....

Are you eating them?

What? You don't even know if you eat them?

Oh, come on........

Eggs, liver, ice cream, cheese, butter, margarine, fried chicken, lamb chops, beef burgers, biscuits, cookies, cakes....to name a few.....

They are foods high in cholesterol - to make sure you do know now!

"What's wrong with them? Why can't I eat them?" You ask.

OK, I'll give you the "ugly fact".

These high cholesterol foods have 2 main "culprits" in them -

• Saturated fat, found in most animals and animal products
• Cholesterol, found in animal as well

Saturated fat raises your LDL (low density lipoproteins) or popularly known as "bad cholesterol" like crazy. You've high cholesterol in your blood because of it.

High cholesterol leads to higher risk of heart attack.

Well, according to cardiologists, it begins with atherosclerosis - a process where cholesterol and other substances build up inside walls of your blood vessels and form tiny bumps called plaque.

At times, so much plaque can form in a blood vessel that they narrow the space inside and constrain blood flow.

When this happens in the arteries supplying blood to your heart, you'll get chest pain, breathlessness and fatigue.

The situation worsens further because plaque is brittle, hence easily ruptures, which forms a blood clot that can completely block all blood flow.

If blood flow to your heart is blocked, you'll have heart attack; if it's to your brain, you'll have a stroke........

You probably don't know whether your blood vessels are healthy. You may look healthy outside but inside, your blood vessels could be squeezed up and crying for help!

An easy way to know is through your cholesterol level; it can tell you the state of your heart's health.

Now come back to foods high in cholesterol - if you don't take them, actually you don't miss anything since your body makes all the cholesterol you need.

Since saturated fat is the culprit that causes high cholesterol in your blood, you should avoid eating foods high in saturated fats or foods high in triglycerides, since triglycerides make up 95% of all the fats you eat.

You find these high cholesterol foods in all animals and animal products like meat, poultry, eggs, animal organs (kidneys, livers) and dairy products.

Avoid processed and prepared foods as well. They contain high cholesterol plus high levels of saturated fats - cookies, pastries, cakes, savories, biscuits, muffins.......

When shop for foods, read the nutrition fact on the food label to check out fat and cholesterol levels.

Many so-called “low-cholesterol” foods contain high levels of saturated fat and/or trans-fat — both contribute to high blood cholesterol.

(P/S: Trans-fats are found in most foods made with partially hydrogenated oils such as baked goods, cakes, cookies, crackers, pastries, pies, muffins, doughnuts, fried foods, shortening and some margarine and dairy products.

The Food and Drug Administration now requires foods to be labeled for trans-fats).

Even foods that claim to be “low-fat” may have a higher fat content than expected.

You should look at the amount of saturated fat, trans-fat, cholesterol and total calories in a serving of the food. Also check how much a serving is. It's usually smaller than you think.

The first ingredient listed is the one used most in the food (hence the highest in content), so choose foods where fats and oils appear later in the ingredient listing.

On a per day basis, you should not consume more than 300 mg of cholesterol, if you've normal LDL (bad) cholesterol level.

Oh, recently you read that eggs, though are foods high in cholesterol, aren’t that bad after all..... so you're going back to having 1 egg for breakfast every morning.......

Well, for your info, 1 egg contains 213 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol.

Remember your daily recommended cholesterol limit is less than or equal to 300 mg?

An egg can fit into your daily menu if you can control intake of cholesterol from other sources like meats, poultry and dairy products.

That's quite hard because even with a healthy menu, your cholesterol intake (egg plus other sources) could still shoot past the recommended amount.

So, if you must have egg, I suggest have it only once in 2 weeks.

They are foods high in cholesterol.

See, normal cholesterol levels are around 200 mg/dL or below.

If you've cholesterol reading ranging from 200 to 239 - hey, time for you to eat healthier food to lower your cholesterol.

If your reading surges to above 240, then you probably have noticeable high cholesterol symptoms. There're no obvious high cholesterol symptoms though, except when the levels get dangerously high.

To know your cholesterol level, go for a blood test.

On the other hand, a high reading for HDL (high density lipoproteins) or popularly known as "good" cholesterol, is good because it indicates that the levels are healthy in removing the bad cholesterol from your blood.

A normal cholesterol reading for HDL is 60 or above.

If it's 40 or below, it means there's not enough HDL in your blood and you may be considered at "risk" from high cholesterol symptoms.

You know the health risks attached to eating foods high in cholesterol.

So make a choice to switch - eat cholesterol "friendly" foods instead, to protect your heart.

And exercise.

But not just any exercise.

It's got to be cardio exercise !

Why? Because it works your heart, strengthening and conditioning it to stronger shape, to pump blood more efficiently.....

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