Observe a diet with high blood cholesterol

Increasing the level of cholesterol in the blood creates a threat to health, so there is cause for concern. Any prescribed treatment should be accompanied by a change in diet and compliance with certain rules. Diet with high cholesterol is an integral part of therapy, which allows to lower the rates to normal.

• Basic principles of diet
• When you need to "sound an alarm"
• Foods banned in high cholesterol
• Permitted products
• Recommended diet for high cholesterol
• The consequences of non-compliance with the diet
• Doctor's opinion

Basic principles of diet

Many people have their bad habits in nutrition, which have a negative impact on health and are often the cause of increased cholesterol levels in the blood. For example, some men have a habit of relaxing in the evening with a mug of beer, and regular use of alcohol in case of problems with blood indicators is unacceptable. As for the fair sex, they sometimes have to give up such an inoffensive habit, like coffee and chocolate.

In any case, in order to learn to determine what you can eat and what does not, you need to understand the principles that underlie the fight against elevated cholesterol. Doctors explain that the medical diet for such people is similar to the usual proper nutrition, but it has its own peculiarities. It is based on the following principles:

• take small meals at least 4-5 times a day;
• should be minimized products containing cholesterol in their composition, their list is given below;
• to consume fats is allowed exclusively vegetable origin, and animal fats must be limited;
• half of the daily diet should be vegetables and fruits, with each meal it is recommended to use them in small amounts;
• Several days a week, you need to supplement the menu with fish or seafood;
• it is strictly forbidden to eat fast food and any fast food (semi-finished products).

When you need to "sound an alarm"

The earlier a person learns about high cholesterol and starts to follow a diet, the more likely that he will manage to avoid complications. Men and women have their own characteristics that can affect the appearance of the problem. Doctors explain that with age in every person the indicator of the norm of cholesterol in the blood increases. Why is this happening?

In women, this is mainly due to the onset of menopause, which is accompanied by hormonal changes affecting the work of all internal systems of the body. Male body, although not subject to hormonal changes in age, in its physiological characteristics, it has a natural tendency to accumulate cholesterol. Therefore, the table of indicators of the norm in women has different values ​​in different periods of life, and in men they are the same.

For women, the norm of general indicators is:

• up to 25 years - 3.16-5.6 mmol / l;
• after 25 years - 3.37-5.96 mmol / l;
• after 45 years - 3.81-6.53 mmol / l;
• after 50 years - 4,2-7,4 mmol / l;
• after 60 years - 4.45-7.7 mmol / l.

For men, the norm of total cholesterol values ​​is up to 5 mmol / l.

Important! To timely detect problems with cholesterol, it is recommended to regularly give blood for analysis! It can be done in almost any medical laboratory. An important rule of passing the test is to do it on an empty stomach.

Foods banned in high cholesterol

Prohibited foods with high cholesterol should be permanently excluded from the diet. This may not be easy, but it is important to remember that the human body tends to adapt to new food, so if you show willpower, then in time the correct diet will become familiar, there will not be problems. So, it is forbidden to use such products:

• egg yolk;
• liver in any form, including pate;
• fish caviar;
• butter;
• margarine and any other oil substitutes;
• store sweets;
• confectionery products made of sand or dough;
• fast food;
• any smoked products, including sausages;
• cream and other dairy products with a fat content of more than 2.5%;
• cheeses of firm grades;
• fatty meat: ribs, pork brisket, etc .;
• coffee;
• alcohol.

It is also important to choose the right way to heat the products during cooking. It is forbidden to fry them in vegetable oil, smoke, salted. Fried cutlets, chops, fish - all this will have to be excluded from the diet in order to lower the level of cholesterol in the blood.

Interesting! The recommended diet for high cholesterol does not allow coffee, the thing is that it contains a cafestol - a substance that directly provokes an increase in indices. However, with sugar and cholesterol, doctors allow the use of 1-2 cups of coffee, brewed in the French-press technique (assuming no boiling).

Permitted products

In fact, the allowed list of products is varied. At the heart of the recommended diet are products without cholesterol or those in which it is contained in small amounts. Given that the diet implies the use of sufficient amounts of vegetable fats, the following products are recommended:

• Nuts (pistachios, cashews, almonds and others, except peanuts, walnuts);
• sunflower and olive oil, which need to fill salads.

When buying dairy products, you must choose those in which the minimum percentage of fat is. When choosing pasta, you need to buy those in the manufacture of which solid wheat is used. Also, to reduce cholesterol, it is recommended to eat red vegetables, fruits and berries.

Several days a week should be fish, it is best to prepare sea fish, which is rich in vitamins, amino acids and other useful elements. In addition, fats of northern water bodies (herring, tuna, mackerel, ide) are suitable, it is a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Despite the fact that the liver is on the list of prohibited foods that prevent the reduction of cholesterol, the liver of sea fish is an exception.

From sweets it is allowed to use those that do not have a flour base, while the amount of sugar in them is minimal. These include marshmallow, marmalade, homemade jam, rahat-lukum, fruit ice cream. You can also drink unsweetened fruit drinks and natural juices from red fruits.

Advice! For sweet tooth, there are many different desserts, which are acceptable for increased cholesterol. Some craftsmen make their own sweets themselves: combine the allowed sweets with nuts, fruits and berries.

Recommended diet for high cholesterol

Do you have to follow a strict diet with high cholesterol? Some people think that they will have to limit themselves in everything and even do not understand what to cook. Consider an example of a menu for a week. Detailed recipes for every day can be found in special books or on the Internet. Below are the options for breakfasts, lunches and dinners, which can be combined in any order.

Breakfasts

1. Cheesecakes, baked in the oven, a glass of orange juice, an apple.
2. Vegetable salad dressed with olive oil, toast with jam, grapefruit, green tea.
3. Oatmeal with nuts and dried fruits, herbal tea.
4. Wheat-pumpkin porridge, any fruit, cottage cheese with sour cream (low-fat).
5. Vegetable salad dressed with sunflower oil and lemon juice, toast with jam, tomato juice.

Lunches

1. Vegetable soup, 2 cutlets, a slice of bread, a glass of juice.
2. Pea soup, a slice of cheese, for example, Adyghe, a slice of bread.
3. Rice soup, fresh or canned tuna, fruit ice cream.
4. Sea fish soup, fresh vegetable salad, 2 slices of whole grain bread.
5. Soup with meatballs from chicken mince, a slice of bread, fresh fruit.

Dinners

1. Boiled beans, rice porridge, vegetables on the grill.
2. Stew of stewed vegetables, scrambled eggs, a glass of fat-free yogurt or yogurt.
3. Baked sea fish, salad of fresh vegetables with olive oil.
4. Oatmeal, salad with canned tuna, apple.
5. Fish stewed with vegetables in tomato sauce, a slice of bread, a glass of kefir.

Advice! It is convenient for many to make a menu for yourself 7 days in advance to buy food and manage to cook them.

The consequences of non-compliance with the diet

Statistics show that every fifth inhabitant of our country has an elevated level of cholesterol in the blood, but not all of them know what kind of diet they need. Doctors warn that failure to comply with the rules of nutrition leads to a further increase in indicators.

The increase in cholesterol provokes the development of diseases of the cardiovascular system, many of which are chronic. Doctors say that every second heart attack is associated with this phenomenon.

Also, excess cholesterol accumulates on the walls of the arteries, as a result of which a healthy person can acquire atherosclerosis in a short period of time. Such deposits can accumulate on other organs, even on the brain, which increases the risk of acquiring many serious diseases.

Thus, adherence to a diet with high cholesterol is a necessary measure for the successful fight against the disease. If you know how to lower the levels of this substance in the blood, you can achieve that they will be normal for a long time. Otherwise, complications that can be serious chronic diseases can not be avoided.

Doctor's opinion

Lowering blood cholesterol should always start with a diet before taking any medications.

To understand the principles of building a diet that will help reduce cholesterol, a table compiled on the basis of the recommendations of the European Heart Association is very suitable. In it, in simple and visual form, products are shown that can and should be consumed, which should be limited, and which ones should be abandoned altogether.