Learn All About High Cholesterol Levels And Fats

Dietary fats

The National Cholesterol Education program has made a recommendation which states that a cholesterol-reducing diet should contain less than 200 mg of dietary cholesterol per day and less than 7 percent of calories from saturated fat. But what does all this exactly mean? Well, let's say you have a 2000-calorie diet, in this case, 7 percent leads to about 15 grams of saturated fat.

Saturated fats

First of all, you must know that animal fats are not the same thing as saturated fats. As a simple example - the fatty acid composition of lard (or pork fat) is very similar (composition-wise) to the human depot fat around the waist and hips. Lard has in its composition, approximately 58 percent unsaturated fatty acids and 42 percent saturated fatty acids. On the other hand, if you thought that vegetables are lighter on the saturated fats, and then you must be aware that coconut oil consists of 83 percent saturated fatty acids.

As far as saturation is concerned, lard is better than coconut oil. But, there is another difference, while coconut oil has no cholesterol because it is a plant product; lard contains 12 mg of cholesterol per tablespoon because it is an animal product. But, because it has double the amount of saturated fat, coconut oil will increase cholesterol twice as much as lard. In the end, it is important to remember that saturated fats increase cholesterol levels no matter its source - whether from vegetable or animal sources.

Hydrogenated fats

Saturated fats and hydrogenated fats and partially hydrogenated fats - all affect the body in the same way. Dietary trans are contained in particular by partially hydrogenated fats. These dietary trans fats raise the level of the low-density lipoproteins (LDL or "bad cholesterol") and they also increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Dietary trans fats raise levels of triglycerides in the blood and reduce high-density lipoproteins (HDL or "good cholesterol").

The last two conditions are automatically linked to insulin resistance which leads to diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The risk of heart attacks is almost twice as high for people who ate partially hydrogenated oils (which have very high amounts of trans fats) compared to those who did not consume hydrogenated oils. Products with partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated oils should be at all means avoided. Remember to always read carefully of all the products you want to buy. Your cholesterol may be increased by any of your favorite foods if they have hydrogenated fats.

Jean Helmet is a content editor who focuses on a wide array of niche health topics. Her latest website - cholesterol-product-we-use.com Natural Cholesterol Supplement focuses on cholesterol as a whole, and in partcular, a natural product our editors personally use with excellent health results known as - cholesterol-product-we-use.com Cholest-Natural

Be sure to check out our cholesterol-product-we-use.com cholesterol product of choice, it is the natural supplement we use and recommend to friends and family, and have done for over 3 years.