Cholesterol is something that we’ve all heard of, and it would come as a surprise to no-one that having high cholesterol is a serious health risk. Years of public health campaigns have deeply ingrained this in our psyches. Be that as it may, how many of us actually know what foods contain the highest levels of cholesterol, and how many of us know exactly why having high cholesterol is something that we should avoid?
Here we present basic information how you can tackle cholesterol, and on high cholesterol health issues:
- What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a substance that is found in the bodies of all animals, including humans. It’s actually an essential substance, as it is regulates membrane permeability in the cells that make up our bodies. It’s so important, in fact, that our bodies are able to synthesize it from scratch, but the majority of cholesterol in our bodies comes from the foods that we eat.
- What foods are high in cholesterol?
In our diets, cholesterol is found in all foods that contain animal fats. It is not found in foods that are made entirely from plants, unless animal fats have been added, for example during a cooking process. Particularly high in cholesterol are dairy products, such as eggs (specifically, egg yolks) and cheese, and meat, such as beef, poultry and pork.
Some foods, such as peanuts and flax seeds, contain cholesterol-like compounds that can actually lower cholesterol levels in those ingesting them.
Another point to note is that foods which are high in fat actually have a bigger impact on blood cholesterol levels than those foods that are simply high in cholesterol. The worst offenders here are saturated fats and trans fats. Saturated fats can be found in foods such as full fat dairy products and in animal fats. Trans fats, which unlike other fats are not essential for life, are found particularly in processed foods such as baked goods, fried food, and snack foods.
-Why is high cholesterol harmful?
If we can’t live without cholesterol, why then is an excess of it a bad thing? The answer is that a diet that is too high in cholesterol leads to an elevated level of cholesterol specifically in the blood. This then leads to build ups of fatty debris in the arteries, a condition known as atherosclerosis, which leads in turn to – you guessed – heart attacks, strokes, and vascular disease.
- How can I avoid high cholesterol?
Unsurprisingly, one of the best things you can do to avoid having high cholesterol is to avoid fatty foods. Foods high saturated fats can be eaten occasionally, but foods containing trans fats should be eliminated entirely from your diet, as these foods are harmful to your health and contain no nutritional benefits whatsoever. While some food chains have voluntarily acted to remove trans fats from their products, often by changing what type of oil is used in the frying of their foods, others are yet to follow suit. At a political level, California became the first, and so far only, state to ban trans fats in 2008.