Careers
Explore
Cholesterol and Diet
Cholesterol - Lowering Diet- One of the goals in your blood cholesterol-lowering diet is to eat less total fat, because this is an effective way to eat less saturated fat. When decreasing the amount of total fat eaten, reduction in saturated fat and calories in diet is achieved. Saturated fat raises blood cholesterol level more than anything else in diet. The best way to reduce blood cholesterol level is to reduce the amount of saturated fat eaten. Saturated fats should be substituted by unsaturated fats to remain healthy. The culprit here is not cashew nuts but all foods when taken in excess as carbohydrates, proteins and fats all metabolize into Acetyl CoA which is the starting point for cholesterol synthesis.
The diet therapy to follow for a healthy system and balance of nutrients is to keep a check on the total calories of foods and the types of foods being consumed. If diet consists only of fats-saturated and trans, simple carbohydrates and the likes, it will no doubt raise the cholesterol level in the blood. The trick therefore here is to balance the diet with fresh fruits and vegetables along with other foods.
Cholesterol is a combination of good [HDL]and bad (LDL)cholesterol. When saturated fat is consumed it does raise cholesterol. But taking a closer look we find that it increases both the good AND the bad by the same percentage. The good more or less cancels out the bad. So although cholesterol does increase, saturates have a relatively small effect on actual heart diseasee itself.
But trans fat increases the bad and decresease the good. This makes it the worst thing you can do for your heart.