Foods that Raise Cholesterol Levels

If your doctor has told you that you have high cholesterol, lowering your cholesterol levels has probably become a high priority for you. Along with other lifestyle changes, you need to know foods that increase cholesterol so that you can avoid them and follow a diet to lower your cholesterol.

Your doctor may have told you that there are two kinds of cholesterol: bad cholesterol and good cholesterol. Cholesterol management involves both overall levels and the ratio of your bad (low density lipoprotein) to good (high density lipoprotein). Most commonly, people want to raise their hdl levels and reduce the ldl levels.

I've already written about foods that raise good cholesterol levels, now let's look at foods that raise bad cholesterol so that we can avoid them and set about reducing our cholesterol levels.

Foods that raise your cholesterol include:

1. Processed foods. Many processed foods contain Trans Fatty Acids (TFAs) which have been shown to raise cholesterol. Specifically, crackers, cookies, and cakes already made contain Trans Fatty Acids, as such, these are foods that raise cholesterol levels.

An important note: margarine - which once was the 'go to' replacement for butter, is really high in TFAs unless it's one of the newer 'non-hydrogenated' margarine. Use caution.

2. Meat. Meat is high in saturated fat, which is one component of food that raises cholesterol levels. This is one reason why vegans and vegetarians often have lower cholesterol levels naturally. Beef, pork, and chicken all contain saturated fat. So do dairy fats, like butter and whole cheese and milk.

3. Cholesterol. In the 'olden' days, people with high cholesterol levels immediately swore off eggs because of the high cholesterol content of the yolks. This was an overreaction and an oversimplification. Yes, foods like eggs that contain cholesterol will raise your cholesterol levels, but not nearly as much as saturated fat and trans fatty acids. In fact, eggs are one of the foods that raise good cholesterol levels, so it might not be a good idea to eliminate them completely from your diet. This is an issue that you should talk about with your doctor or nutritionist.

There are other things besides food that raise your cholesterol levels. Things like obesity, inactivity, smoking, and inflammation are linked to high cholesterol levels and heart attack risk. If you're doing everything else right but your cholesterol is still too high, avoiding cholesterol raising foods might be the key - but it's not a cure all.

But it doesn't hurt to avoid or limit the foods that raise cholesterol levels the most so that you have a head start toward lowering your cholesterol naturally.

Sources:

Trans Fats and cholesterol
Dairy and cholesterol
Margarine & cholesterol