Selecting your Foods

Enjoy a wide variety of foods regularly, including select cuts of meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts each week.

You can further keep your blood cholesterol levels low by doing the following:

• Choose chicken and turkey that has the skin removed. You can keep the skin on to seal in the juices so long as you remove the skin before eating.

• When selecting meat, choose leaner cuts, white meat, and cuts that have less white “marbleized” texture. The white “marble” is fat that can increase your cholesterol.

• Select fish such as cod that has less saturated fat than even chicken or other meats.

• Even the leanest cuts of meat, chicken, fish, and shellfish have saturated fat and cholesterol so limit your daily intake to 6 ounces or less.

• Remember: You can increase soluble fiber if LDL is not lowered enough from reducing saturated fat and cholesterol.

Making Healthy Eating Better

One of the best things you can do for your cholesterol levels is to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Not only do these foods have no dietary cholesterol that can raise your bad cholesterol levels, but some fruits and vegetables have been linked to lowering cholesterol in patients.

Research studies have proven numerous times that one of the best things you can do for yourself if you are worried about your cholesterol level is to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables.

Studies also often show that North Americans eat far less fresh fruits and vegetables than they should eat, a fact that has often been suggested as a key cause for the higher cholesterol levels and heart disease levels - not to mention the higher rates of obesity - that North Americans face.

To put it simply, those nations that eat more fruits, vegetables, and grains are healthier - and have lower cholesterol levels as a whole.

As an added bonus, you do not have to worry as much about eating too many fruits and vegetables. While you do not want to overeat, you can eat far more fresh fruits and vegetables than meat products and remain heart healthy.

You can only eat small portions of animal products before you have to worry about cholesterol content. With vegetables and fruits, there is no such worry.

If you have always felt deprived while following low-fat diets in the past, you can avoid this in the future simply by eating more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Evan