Are There Good Cholesterol Foods, Or Is All Cholesterol Bad?

There is often a lot of confusion surrounding cholesterol, what is good and what is bad, what is high and what is low. Fundamentally, people get confused when they hear that their high-density lipoprotein is too low or that their low-density lipoprotein is too high. They wonder what all those ratios mean and then come to the conclusion that all cholesterol is bad and must be eliminated, somehow. Can there be such things as good cholesterol foods?

It might be easier to think about LDL and HDL in this way. LDL is the enemy and you must always strive to get the number associated with it down. HDL is responsible for helping to remove some of the LDL and the more of this you have the better. So, the lower the LDL the better and the higher the HDL the better, in general terms.

Not all cholesterol is bad, in fact it's an essential part of our bodily composition. Without cholesterol we cannot survive. The good news is that our bodies manufacture enough cholesterol naturally without us having to worry about adding it within our diet. Unfortunately, the typical diet in Western culture relies on far too much cholesterol and when we add this to the amount that our body produces naturally, an imbalance occurs. Too much of the LDL cholesterol can lead to narrowing of the arteries through plaque formation. The consequences can be serious including blood clots that can lead to heart attack or stroke.

If we are to consider "good cholesterol foods," then they should be foods that help to reduce the LDL. Our champions in this regard include oat bran, oat meal and other high-fiber foods. Soluble fiber here is present in apples, barley, kidney beans, fruits, Brussels sprouts and broccoli to name a few. If you aim for as little as 10 grams of soluble fiber every day you're making a significant difference. Consider a regular portion of oatmeal and a banana, for example and you've reached that target.

Toward the top of the list of good cholesterol foods are fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, halibut or herring. Try and eat two servings of fish every week, which you should bake or grill or prepare using olive oil if necessary. Some people find that they don't have a good tolerance for fish and in this case they should definitely consider taking an omega-3 supplement.

While supplements can be a definite help in your battle against cholesterol, do remember that they will not substitute for a poor diet. In other words, just because you don't eat fish as your protein during dinner, it doesn't mean that you can substitute this with a steak instead and "rely on" supplements to tide you over.

If you're looking for a snack make sure that you have some highly beneficial nuts on hand. It's far better to snack on almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts in as natural a state as you can find them. You need to avoid prepackaged varieties as they invariably have way too much sodium.

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