Best Diet For Lowering Cholesterol And Triglycerides

Whole Grains Especially Oats And Barley

Weightloss and Dieting : How to Lower Triglycerides & Raise HDL

Extensive research ties whole grains to lower heart disease risk.

In fact, a review of 45 studies linked eating three servings of whole grains daily to a 20% lower risk of heart disease and stroke. Benefits were even greater when people ate more servings up to seven of whole grains per day .

Whole grains keep all parts of the grain intact, which provides them with more vitamins, minerals, plant compounds and fiber than refined grains.

While all whole grains may promote heart health, two grains are particularly noteworthy:

Oats: Contain beta-glucan, a

Fruit is an excellent addition to a heart-healthy diet for several reasons.

Many types of fruit are rich in soluble fiber, which helps lower cholesterol levels .

It does this by encouraging your body to get rid of cholesterol and stopping your liver from producing this compound.

One kind of soluble fiber called pectin lowers cholesterol by up to 10%. Its found in fruits including apples, grapes, citrus fruits and strawberries .

Fruit also contains bioactive compounds that help prevent heart disease and other chronic diseases due to their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

Eating berries and grapes, which are particularly rich sources of these plant compounds, can help increase good HDL and lower bad LDL cholesterol .

SummaryFruit can help lower cholesterol and improve heart health. This is largely caused by its fiber and antioxidants.

How Can Triglyceride Levels Be Lowered

If your triglyceride levels are high, the next step is for your doctor to check for potential causes. Certain medications, thyroid function issues, poorly controlled diabetes, liver or kidney disease can all cause triglyceride levels to be higher than normal.

The first steps in treatment to lower triglyceride levels include eating a healthy diet, achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, and aerobic exercise on a regular basis.

To lower your triglyceride levels, your diet should be:

low in simple carbohydrates

If you have high triglycerides and low HDL or high LDL levels, you may need to take medication along with making lifestyle changes. If your triglyceride levels are in the very high range you are at risk to develop other medical problems, so you will most likely need to take medication.

Eat The Right Foods For You

As weve seen, there are some broad dietary guidelines you can follow to help lower your triglyceride levels.

But our research shows that everyones blood fat responses to the foods they eat are personal, with more than 10 times the difference between some people.

ZOE runs the largest nutritional study of its kind, with over 15,000 participants so far. Based on our studies, weve developed a personalized nutrition program that takes your unique biology into account to help you improve your metabolic health.

Using the latest scientific techniques, the ZOE at-home test analyzes your triglyceride and blood sugar levels after eating, as well as the microbes in your gut.

Based on your results, the ZOE program then gives you advice on the best foods and food combinations for your body and your long-term health goals.

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Substitute Healthy Oils In Place Of Butter And Margarine

Of course, its not always realistic to avoid fats when youre whipping up a tasty meal. When you do need to add fat for cooking, baking or pan frying, use healthy oils instead of solid fats, like butter, margarine, shortening and lard.

Solid fats are high in saturated fats, but oils are high in unsaturated fats, which remember are better for you. The American Heart Association recommends using oils that have less than 4 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon .

Many times, its easy to swap a solid fat to a healthier one. Try using olive oil, sunflower oil or grapeseed oil in place of a solid fat.

For example, if youd rather use olive oil than butter, substitute three quarters the amount of butter in a recipe with olive oil. You might also bring out some new, surprising, subtle flavors, too.

Becoming More Physically Active

A sedentary lifestyle lowers HDL cholesterol. Less HDL means theres less good cholesterol to remove bad cholesterol from your arteries.

Physical activity is important. At least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise a week is enough to lower both cholesterol and high blood pressure. And you have lots of options: brisk walking, swimming, bicycling or even yard work can fit the bill.

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Some People May Respond Best To A Low

For those with severely elevated triglycerides , there is a case for low-fat diets being equally good if not better than low carb in some situations.

One study finds that those with triglycerides below 400 mg/dL respond best to low-carb diets, but those with triglycerides greater than 400 mg/dL respond best to low-fat diets.24

However, case reports document a decrease in severely elevated triglycerides with low-carb, high-fat diets.25

Its important to understand the cause of elevated triglycerides, as that may impact the proposed dietary treatment. If someone has a genetic cause, such as familial chylomicronemia or lipoprotein lipase deficiency, a low-fat diet may be more effective.26

Aside from these extreme examples, there is no evidence to support a low-fat diet as being better than a low-carb diet for reducing elevated triglycerides.

Feeding Your Heart: Foods To Help Lower Cholesterol

Fruits like avocados and apples, and citrus fruits like oranges and bananas can help lower cholesterol.

Cholesterol is a material produced in the liver that your body needs to make hormones, vitamin D and other substances. Two types are in the body: Good and bad.

Bad cholesterol is called LDL cholesterol and too much of it in the body can increase risk of heart disease, says Paula McIntyre, a Marshfield Clinic registered dietitian.

Higher levels of LDL cholesterol can be deposited in the arteries, which narrows them and increases heart disease risk, she said.

Cholesterol also can come from foods we eat, so feeding your heart the right foods is an important way to lower bad cholesterol levels.

You can break down LDL cholesterol eating healthy fats and soluble fiber.

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Which Foods To Avoid

Avoid alcohol, added sugars, refined carbohydrates and saturated fat. Alcohol is known to increase triglyceride levels which can lead to cardiovascular disease . Added sugars are also high in calories and cause insulin resistance, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease . Refined carbs and saturated fats both contribute to higher blood triglyceride levels which over time will contribute to plaque buildup in the circulatory system and heart disease.

Prepare Your Food A Little Differently

7 Ways to Lower Your Triglycerides and Cholesterol With Lifestyle Changes

Its not only what you eat its how you eat it. Just as you can change what you buy in the grocery store, you can also choose healthier ways to make your food that help lower your cholesterol naturally. For example:

Consider trimming fat and removing the skin when cooking meat or fish. This helps you get the protein while reducing fat intake.
Focus on boiling, broiling, baking, poaching or grilling. These are better methods of preparation than deep frying or breading, which can add extra fat.

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The Effects Of Alcohol On Triglycerides And Ldl

Moderate alcohol intake can increase HDL cholesterol, and thatâs a plus. It also might increase insulin sensitivity and cause other positive health responses. The recommendation for alcohol use is mild or moderate consumption. Using alcohol in moderation is considered one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men.

Note: The beneficial effects of alcohol are not great enough to endorse the use of alcohol if you do not already drink. Talk with your health care provider about the pluses and minuses of alcohol for you and your health.

What Treatments Are Available For High Cholesterol

Treatment may include:

Addressing risk factors. Some risk factors that can be changed include lack of exercise and poor eating habits.
Cholesterol-lowering medicines. Medicines are used to lower fats in the blood, particularly LDL cholesterol. Statins are a group of medicines that can do this. The two most effective types are atorvastatin and rosuvastatin. Other medicines that lower cholesterol levels are ezetimibe and PCSK9 inhibitors.

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Foods That Lower Triglycerides

Your diet is the main contributor to your overall triglyceride levels, with high calorie, high-fat foods being the main culprits. Eating in excess amounts contributes to this problem as well, as when you take in more calories than you need, the body changes those calories into triglycerides, getting stored as fat. Following some of these tips can help you choose calories wiser and help lower your triglyceride levels:

Reduce saturated fats and trans fats. These are commonly found in animal products, fast food, baked goods, and other prepackaged and processed foods
Use healthy mono- and poly-unsaturated fats. Found in olive or canola cooking oil
Eat more fruits and vegetables. Getting the majority of your calories from these sources make it satisfies hunger and keeps you away from unhealthy alternatives
Alcohol in moderation. May be full of empty calories
Avoid refined sugars. Typically found in processed foods
Eat fish protein once or twice a week. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish can help lower triglyceride levels
Eat plenty of fiber. Fiber increases satiety, and also aid in decreases cholesterol absorption in the gut
Limit total dietary cholesterol to 200mg per day

The following is a list of well-known natural foods that lower triglycerides:

Do High Triglyceride Levels Affect Hdl And Cholesterol Levels

Triglycerides are involved in the transport of fatty acids to muscles and tissues for energy.

HDL particles are involved in the transport of excess fatty acids from the periphery back to the liver for elimination. Because of these competing roles, it is very difficult to increase HDL, the healthy good cholesterol, without first addressing triglycerides.
HDL not only transports excess lipid to the liver for disposal, but it also transports cholesterol to organs such as the adrenals, ovaries, and testes for steroid hormone synthesis.
Many of the strategies discussed here that lower triglycerides are also known to raise HDL.

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How Long Does It Take To Lower Triglycerides

Depending on whats causing your high triglyceride levels, you may be able to lower them in just a few days. A night out drinking or eating foods high in sugar can cause a spike in your triglyceride levels. Limiting alcohol and sugar intake can bring your levels back to normal within a few days.

If you have consistently high triglycerides, it may take a few months for them to return to a healthy range. How fast they lower depends on the lifestyle changes, diet, and medications youre taking.

What Not To Eat The Foods To Avoid

How to behave on the opposite side, that is: what not to eat in case of high triglycerides? First, we need to reduce the intake of as much as possible simple sugars. It is also necessary to strongly limit or better still eliminate those foods which promote the increase of LDL cholesterol .

In case of particularly high levels of triglycerides it is recommended to further reduce, in any case by relying on your doctor, thecarbohydrate intake. You may need to limit your intake to whole grains or rice only, avoiding bread and pasta altogether.

Heres a summary of the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans:

Avoid industrial trans fats.

Replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats, and aim to get less than 10% of your calories from saturated fats.

Reduce calories from solid animal fats with plant oils when possible.

Prioritize seafood , lean meats, poultry, eggs, legumes , nuts, seeds, and soy products over red and processed meats as sources of protein.

What To Look Out For When Shopping For Foods To Lower Cholesterol:

When grocery shopping, there are foods youâll want to focus on and foods to avoid to lower your cholesterol. To lower your cholesterol, focus on foods high in fiber like canned or dried beans or lentils, fruits and vegetables , as well as whole grains like quinoa, oatmeal, brown rice and whole-wheat bread. Other healthy options to focus on include those foods high in unsaturated fats like nuts and seedsincluding chia and flax, as well as olive oil, avocado and foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like salmon. These healthy fats help raise your good HDL cholesterol which protects your heart. Some other foods you can eat that may surprise youeggs and shrimp. Although traditionally avoided because theyâre high in dietary cholesterol, thereâs not a lot of evidence that cholesterol in foods actually raises our bodyâs cholesterol, so feel free to include these foods in your healthy diet plan.

To identify trans fats, look at the ingredient list and try to avoid foods that say âhydrogenatedâ or âpartially hydrogenated fats.â Youâll often find them in processed foods, especially processed baked goods, as well as some peanut butters, so try to opt for a natural peanut butter that contains just two ingredients: peanuts and salt.

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Anything Greater Than 39 Mg/dl Is Considered Good

Cholesterol- and Triglyceride-lowering Supplements

Doctors believe the HDL proteins carry away the LDL proteins to the liver, where it is broken down and exits the body.

Triglycerides are the most common type of fat in the body they store excess energy from your diet.

A high triglyceride level combined with low HDL cholesterol or high LDL cholesterol is linked with fatty buildups in artery walls therefore, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.

My husbands Triglyceride level was 282 mg/dL, whereas, 150 should be highest.

HDL level 35 mg/dL, whereas 39 mg/dL should be the lowest

LDL level 146 mg/dl, wheras 100 mg/dL is optimal

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Puree Fruits And Veggies For Baking

Pureed fruits or vegetables can be used in place of oil in muffin, cookie, cake and snack bar recipes to give your treats an extra healthy boost. For many recipes, use the specified amount of puree instead of oil. Check the mixs package or your cookbooks substitutions page for other conversions. You can:

Use applesauce in spice muffins or oatmeal cookies.
Include bananas in breads and muffins.
Try zucchini in brownies.

What Not To Eat: Foods That Raise Cholesterol

Whether you have high cholesterol that needs to be lowered or you simply want to maintain an already-healthy cholesterol level, avoiding certain foods can help.

Any food that contains saturated fat is a no-no for a cholesterol-lowering diet. Trans fats are equally as bad, if not worse. Trans fats are a double whammy they raise LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol, Featherstun says.

Here are some specific types of food to avoid:

Anything fried Youd be hard-pressed to walk into a restaurant in the United States and not find a deep fryer. But if youre on a cholesterol-lowering diet, take a pass on the greasy stuff. Not only does deep frying cause foods to lose water and suck up fat, making them more calorie dense, but the oils that foods are fried in are often high in trans fats, the worst offenders.

If you cant bear the thought of never eating another crunchy onion ring, consider using olive or sunflower oil when frying. In a study published in January 2012 in The BMJ, researchers in Spain, where olive and sunflower oils are used for frying, found that eating fried foods was not associated with increased rates of heart disease like it is in countries where saturated fats, like lard and butter, are used. Just be sure not to heat these oils past their smoke point the temperature at which an oil starts to burn.

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Diet Plan To Lower Cholesterol And Lose Weight

Improve your cholesterol levels, and much moreâ¦ Lose weight. Lower your blood pressure. Reduce blood sugar.

You get it all with this meal plan to lower cholesterol, created by the dietitiansand physicians at the renowned Pritikin Longevity Center in Miami. Plus, youâll enjoy all kinds of filling, delicious foods. Get started now!

Consistently, research has found that a meal plan full of soluble-fiber-rich foods was incredibly successful in lowering cholesterol as effective, in fact, as statins.

Sure, drugs like statins can reduce cholesterol. But following a heart-healthy diet like the Pritikin Eating Plan, or adding Pritikin to statin meds, may lower your cholesterol even more. Down shoots LDL cholesterol as well as all forms of bad cholesterol, known as non-HDL.

What Is Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Familial hypercholesterolemia is a genetic condition.

It presents itself by rising LDL cholesterol levels in the blood and normal triglyceride levels. It is a hereditary defect in the bodys ability to recycle LDL cholesterol.

Familial hypercholesterolemia raises the chance of cardiovascular disease. Subsequently, the symptoms appear earlier in life.

LDL levels will rise if a person cannot clear LDL and/or has a reduced ability to do so.

Familial hypercholesterolemia is inheritable from either one or both parents . People with this condition can have elevated LDL levels despite following a healthy lifestyle and nutrition plan.

In people with FH, cholesterol deposits exist in the Achilles tendons and tendons of the hands and elbows. Cholesterol deposits can also form in other body areas, such as a white ring around the eyes. This is called corneal arcus.

Only diet and exercise arent enough to treat familial hypercholesterolemia.

Physicians usually prescribe a statin pill. But, in some cases, other cholesterol-lowering medications, such as ezetimibe, are also essential.

LDL apheresis is a treatment used to treat people who have high LDL cholesterol. PCSK9 inhibitors, which are injectable drugs, can also help to decrease cholesterol levels. These drugs target and prevent a protein that frees up more receptors on liver cells. It allows LDL cholesterol to eradicate from the blood.

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