Cholesterol

Some of the foods we love to eat as a American society, hamburgers, french fries, milkshakes, steak and ice cream taste great going down, but what do they do to the body? You inherently know that a diet low in fat and cholesterol and high in fruits and vegetables is best for you. And you might ask why it is good for you? Because the bad type of cholesterol comes from your consumption of high levels of saturated fat.

When the level of cholesterol hits unhealthy levels in the body, it can cause fatty deposits to build on cells thwarting the proper movement of blood through the body. The lack of proper blood movement can cause heart problems and even stroke. Maintaining a healthy diet is critical to retaining a proper level of cholesterol in the body.

There are two items in food that contribute to high cholesterol levels. One, saturated fat, which mostly comes from animal products and oils; and two, cholesterol, which also comes from animals. Saturated fat contributes to the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level, or the bad type of cholesterol.

Trans fat also raises bad cholesterol levels in the body. Recently, New York State banned the use of trans fat in restaurants. Some think that trans fat is worse than saturated fat – it raises bad cholesterol levels while at the same time lowering the good cholesterol levels. Trans fats are most commonly found in cooking oils and shortenings, usually used to fry foods in restaurants.

High cholesterol levels are mostly found in animal and animal products (remember you are eating the cholesterol the animal produced), high fat diary foods, egg yolks, poultry and fish. While seafood contains cholesterol, it’s considered a good cholesterol because it helps reduce the harmful LDL levels and encourages the production of HDL, a beneficial dietary cholesterol. Some of the foods with the highest levels of cholesterol are beef, eggs, sausage, cake and many “fast foods” cooked in oils and fried.

The fat levels in these foods are what make it most harmful to the body. Your liver already produces four times as much cholesterol as it needs. With the added saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet, the liver goes into overdrive and produces more cholesterol than it needs. You only need but so much dietary cholesterol, and the overproduction of cholesterol in the body can clog arteries and inhibit blood flow. Further, saturated fat makes the blood thicker through the raising of triglyceride levels.

A diet high in vegetables, fruits, lean meats, fiber and whole grains is best for your body and will keep cholesterol levels in check. If you are making a daily or maybe even every other day trip through the fast food “drive thru,” you are likely consuming an unhealthy amount of fats and cholesterol. But it’s not just fast food, fried food and red meat, be careful of the cholesterol and fat hiding in baked products. Those cookies, muffins, pastries also contain high levels of fat that can affect your cholesterol levels.

We all know that it’s impossible to not occasionally eat foods high in cholesterol or fat. As a society, we often consume a lot of convenience foods, for instance a bagel on the run or a muffin at the work breakfast meeting. The occasional bad food choice is probably not going to lead to health issues related of high cholesterol levels. But doctors say making proper diet choices most of the time will keep you healthy. In addition to good food choices, exercise is also important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.