LifeSurance.info – Apart from medication, high cholesterol can also be treated by eating healthy foods. These various food choices are known to be able to reduce and control cholesterol levels in the blood. So, what types of healthy food are meant?
The habit of consuming unhealthy foods too often, such as fast food and fried foods, can increase levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides in the blood. If left untreated, you are at risk of developing various diseases, such as heart disease and stroke.
Therefore, if you suffer from high cholesterol, efforts are needed to reduce cholesterol levels and keep them normal. One way to reduce high cholesterol is to live a healthy lifestyle, including eating healthy foods.
Healthy Food Choices for High Cholesterol Sufferers
To reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, several types of healthy foods are good for cholesterol sufferers to consume, including:
1. Vegetables and fruits
Vegetables and fruit are a group of healthy foods rich in nutrients that are good for cholesterol sufferers to consume. The fiber, vitamin and mineral content in it is known to be good for body health and can reduce bad cholesterol (LDL).
2. Fish contains healthy fats
People with high cholesterol are also advised to consume foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, mackerel, sardines and tuna.
Various research shows that healthy omega-3 fats are known to be good for reducing triglyceride levels in the blood, maintaining good cholesterol (HDL) levels, maintaining heart and blood vessel health, and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as heart disease and stroke.
3. Whole grains
Seeds, such as sunflower seeds, wheat, jali, and chia seeds, are also included in healthy foods for people with high cholesterol. This type of food is rich in vitamins, minerals, protein, healthy fats, antioxidants, and soluble fiber called beta-glucan.
Thanks to the various nutrients and fiber in them, whole grains are good for consumption to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and reduce cholesterol absorption in the digestive tract.
4. Nuts
Not only grains, nuts also contain various nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants which are good for consumption by people with high cholesterol.
5. Foods enriched with stanols and sterols
Stanols and sterols are compounds in plants that can inhibit the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine, so they can reduce cholesterol levels in the blood.
These two compounds can be obtained from various types of plant foods, including grains, nuts, and fruit and vegetables. Nowadays, many stanols and sterols are also added to various food and beverage products, such as margarine, cheese, chocolate, packaged fruit juice, and yogurt.
Apart from consuming healthy foods for high cholesterol sufferers as above, you also have to balance it with other healthy lifestyle patterns, starting from exercising regularly, maintaining an ideal body weight, limiting consumption of alcoholic drinks, and stopping smoking.
If you have eaten healthy food and adopted other healthy lifestyle patterns but your cholesterol is still high, you should consult a doctor to get the right treatment.
