Several Diets for High Cholesterol Have Been Developed

A number of different diets have been developed to implement low cholesterol and low fat foods, though before taking a diet for high cholesterol, one should consult a health care practitioner. The National Cholesterol Education Program gave out new diet guidelines targeting people with high cholesterol who are at risk of heart disease. It is thus necessary to find the right diet for high cholesterol that reduces bad cholesterol, raises good cholesterol and takes care of triglycerides as well. High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart diseases, which is the leading killer of Americans because too much cholesterol in the blood can constrict the arteries and thus reduces the oxygen that reaches the heart. When one wishes to control the high cholesterol levels through a diet regime, it becomes necessary to reduce saturated fats as well as cholesterol levels in the food one eats.

Choosing the Right Diet for High Cholesterol

Once one has decided on bringing the levels of cholesterol down, it may be time to avoid falling into the crash weight loss diet trap. It is better to choose the right diet for high cholesterol as there is no magic in combining certain foods and eating high proteins or eating very low fat diets. This is common to all weight loss diets which focus on restricting the calories consumed in order to cause weight loss. It is better to focus on keeping the weight off the cholesterol and to keep the triglyceride levels low and maintain a weight loss, instead of simply losing weight.

The right diet for high cholesterol will necessitate balancing good foods and consuming the right amounts of calories which have been determined to accomplish lower cholesterol. For calculating the proper amounts of calories to be consumed, one will need to take into account a person's age, physical activity, height, sex, current weight as well as special needs.

Changing diet for high cholesterol will have different degrees of success in lowering cholesterol, and people with high cholesterol that eat too much of fatty foods may be able to reduce the cholesterol by ten to twenty percent while others may only achieve a five to eight percent reduction. The key to success in diet for high cholesterol is to lose excess weight and changing of diet is the first step in lowering cholesterol levels before adding medicines to obtain even better results. Nevertheless, reducing saturated fats is essential to a diet for high cholesterol and this may be done by limiting the quantity of meat and milk products that are consumed.