Lower Cholesterol Foods

Cholesterol is Bad?
Despite all the bad press that cholesterol gets, we do need cholesterol - it is an absolute necessity. Without it we would die. Our bodies through the liver and many of our cells can manufacture cholesterol. Matter of fact enough cholesterol for our bodies to use. So you could say that any we eat is too much, it's a surplus. And this surplus, given the right conditions can be deadly. For it can accumulate as deadly plaque in our arteries and cause heart attacks or strokes.

The fear people have of cholesterol is because they have too much cholesterol in their blood. So if you think about it, one way to lower your cholesterol is to eat foods that have less cholesterol. What foods have less cholesterol? You ask. Well, to begin with fruits and vegetables are largely cholesterol free. Meats come with cholesterol. So if you eat a vegetarian diet you are pretty safe.

Why I say pretty safe is because your liver can make cholesterol from saturated fats. These are fats that are solid at room temperature like the fat on a beef steak. A vegetarian diet will eliminate beef steak, but saturated fat can be found in nuts and especially coconuts. 

Now wouldn't you know it?  I love shredded coconut. So nuts eaten on a daily basis should be no more than a handful. Coconut should be really cut back, like to zero if you have high cholesterol to begin with.

Look in the Plant Kingdom
So lower cholesterol foods can be found in the plant kingdom. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables should not raise your blood cholesterol levels. I use the 'should' because it depends on if you fry the produce in butter or some heavy fat it can be self defeating.

Eating a salad of fresh vegetables and an oiless salad dressing is a real good, cholesterol-free meal. There are many salad toppings that are berry based or lemon based and do not contain fats or cholesterol. These are really very healthy for you and will not raise your cholesterol.

Top of The List
So vegetable salads are at the top of the lower cholesterol foods list. Salads can contain many different kinds of vegetables, so you are limited by your imagination. 

Most people think of a salad as having lettuce, tomatoes and onions. Well, that sounds like a good beginning, but many other vegetables can be added.

Some people would say that - I eat a salad and I'm hungry a half-hour later. If you put the right kind of vegetables in the salad this does not have to be true. Also these are foods that you can eat all you want - you need not walk around hungry after the meal.