What is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a white, fatty substance manufactured mainly by the liver.
It is involved in a number of important bodily functions, including the formation of vitamin D and some hormones.
Particles known as lipoproteins circulate cholesterol to all parts of your body via your blood. At this stage it is called blood cholesterol. Scientific evidence shows that above-normal amounts of cholesterol in the blood increases the risk of atherosclerosis – the condition that can lead to heart attack or stroke.
There are a number of factors that influence the level of cholesterol in your blood. For most people the cause is diet-related. A high-fat diet is the main reason why high blood-cholesterol levels are so common. Rarely is it a hereditary condition.
Your doctor will tell you if the level is too high and if dietary changes are necessary. The National Heart Foundation’s publication Healthy Eating for the Heart will give you more details.
High blood cholesterol can be prevented. Most people can avoid ever having high blood cholesterol if they follow the right diet and start young enough. Most people who do have a high blood-cholesterol level can lower the level by dietary means.
Follow these guidelines:
- Maintain a healthy weight. If you are overweight now set about losing approximately 1 kg a week by changing your eating habits and increasing your physical activity (see the National Heart Foundation booklet The Weight Loss Guide).
- Limit your total intake of fat. You may need to reduce the amount of fat and fatty foods you eat, or substitute with polyunsaturated fats and oils or cut back on certain foods high in cholesterol. More foods rich in dietary fiber and starch may need to be included. (Remember that cholesterol present in foods and ingredients of animal origin is only one influencing factor on blood-cholesterol levels; the main dietary factor is fat.)
- Take a good long look at what you eat now. There is probably room for some improvement.
Often the following changes are all that are necessary:
- Always trim fat off meat.
- Browse through the butchers or supermarket for the meat with the least fat marbling.
- Always discard fat and skin on chicken.
- Experiment with low-fat dairy foods.
- Include at least one vegetarian meal per week based on dried beans, peas or lentils such as soya bean casserole, lentil patties.
- Avoid deep-fried and fatty takeaway foods.
- Try low-fat salad dressings and sauces.
- Switch to whole meal bread.
- Try brown rice and pasta instead of white.
- Limit high-cholesterol foods such as egg yolks, offal products, prawns, fish roe and squid.
- Avoid packet snacks and biscuits between meals.
- Ensure vegetables and fruit feature on your daily menu.
- Drink more water.
- Increase physical activity (get off the bus one stop early, swim three times a week, walk to the local shops instead of driving).
- When you buy supermarket foods, always check the label – if fat, shortening or oil is high on the list of ingredients, look around for an alternative.
- Use the Heart Foundation cookbook Guide to Healthy Eating.
Meal Suggestions
Breakfast
- Have wholegrain breakfast cereal such as rolled oats, untoasted muesli, commercial whole-wheat cereal and switch to skim milk. Include fruit or juice.
- If you like something hot, how about mushrooms on toast or grilled tomato or asparagus or baked beans?
- Try tasty whole meal bread or enjoy the texture of wholegrain types. Switch to easily spreadable polyunsaturated margarines and use just a little.
Lunch
- Whole meal sandwiches or rolls made with lean meat, salmon or cottage cheese and lots of salad makes a convenient lunch. If buying at the sandwich shop, ask for no butter or salt.
- Fill up with nonfat yoghurt and fresh fruit.
- On a cold winter’s day, warm up with a mug of hot homemade soup.
Dinner
- Enjoy fish more often or experiment with an occasional vegetarian meal. Eat only lean meat and lean poultry and have plenty of vegetables – hot or cold. Use recipes from the Heart Foundation cookbooks Guide to Healthy Eating or Harvest Cookbook.
- For dessert try your own combinations of fruit – fresh or cooked – with ricotta topping.
Snacks
- Try not to snack but if you must make your own and keep it small. Convenience and fast foods are often high in fat. Have a crusty bread roll stuffed with bean sprouts and mushrooms.
- Munch a crunchy apple or enjoy a few dried fruits, nuts and seeds. If overweight is not a problem, make your own cakes and loaves using skim milk, a little polyunsaturated margarine and egg whites instead of full-cream milk, butter and whole eggs. Carrot, pineapple, apple or zucchini are useful additions in cakes.
Triglycerides
Triglycerides are also an important type of fat. They are found in food and in most of the body’s fat tissue. The level in the bloodstream rises with overweight and dietary factors. As with blood cholesterol, a high level can increase the risk of heart disease, although a high triglyceride level is not considered as important a risk factor as high blood cholesterol.