Diet Tips To Reduce LDL Cholesterol
Why should you want to reduce LDL cholesterol? Short for Low Density Lipoprotein, LDL cholesterol happens to be the kind that you wouldn’t want to have plenty of. In simple language, LDL refers to the bad cholesterol, and while bad cholesterol is also needed by the body, levels that are beyond the normal range can put you at risk for a variety of heart problems. LDL is bad fat that can collect in the arterial walls. Overtime, without proper management, the walls of the arteries harden, and this is where heart problems can turn serious. If you do not want to face the possibility of strokes, congestive heart failures, heart attacks or premature death, then you must resolve to reduce LDL cholesterol.
How and where do you begin? Make a review of your lifestyle. Draw out a list of foods you eat and the activities you do on a daily basis. This will make you aware how healthy or unhealthy you have been living your life. Sometimes, you think that you are eating all the right foods, but it is not until you have put it in black and while that you will realize that plenty of what you put in your mouth are not in fact good for you. Anyhow, if your list shows food items that are high in saturated fat, such as fried foods, ice cream, full cream milk, buttered sandwiches, and underdeveloped duck eggs, then you have to make a major lifestyle change. You might be eating vegetables like broccoli and carrots, but if you have the habit of eating these with fatty dressings, you are not doing your heart a favor either.
A heart-friendly breakfast treat would include a glass of fresh pineapple juice, apple juice or orange juice, a bowl of oatmeal with a dash of cinnamon, and a glass of skimmed milk or low-fat milk. You can eat eggs on other days but don’t make it an everyday habit, and as much as possible, don’t fry the eggs. For lunch, have a bowl of raw vegetables (broccoli, tomatoes, ampalaya with onion rings and garlic, and vinegar or lemon juice make a great choice) and steamed fish. When preparing raw vegetables, make sure to rinse them well first. In between meals, snack on walnuts instead of potato chips. Walnuts are a healthy source of good fat, the kind of fat your body needs to have more of.
You should be getting plenty of exercise, too. Any exercise, as long as it is able to make you move yourself about and perspire, is good. This means that you don’t have to do anything special, nothing too strenuous. You can be simply walking around your house, doing your usual chores, or you can be out in the garden tending your plants or pulling out weeds, and either way you are increasing your metabolism and helping burn fat. It goes to say that you are helping your heart become healthier.