Foods that you like to reduce blood cholesterol

By Dr harold Gunatillake –Health writer

Low fat and low sugar diets are recommended to keep your blood cholesterol number within the normal range. But there are yummy delicious foods you can incorporate into your everyday meals to bring down your cholesterol numbers.

Dark chocolates contain flavonoids, antioxidants that help to lower your bad cholesterol. It is dark unsweetened chocolate please, not the milky ones with yummy taste. You could also enjoy an unsweetened cocoa beverage using the powder.

Now what are flavonoids? It is a large group of biologically active water soluble plant compounds such as anthocyanins and flavones, ranging in colour from yellow to red to blue and occur in fruits, vegetables and herbs -like grapes, citrus fruits pepper, among others. They are not found in fat soluble compounds as they can mix only with water soluble foods, as mentioned earlier. For instance, do not expect these compounds in butter or fat soluble foods.

Flavonoids are effective scavengers to rid of free radicals formed in your body due to daily metabolic activities. Even exercise produce free radicals.

Anthocyanins are also water soluble pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue depending on the pH. They too belong to flavonoids. They occur in plants, including leaves, stems, roots flowers and fruits. They too have antioxidant properties. Anthocyanins are found in high concentrations in the skins of black grapes and contribute to the colour of red wine. If you kept the skins of red grapes separate from the pulp, you could make white wine red grapes. This is used in the production of Sparking Wine.

I must confess that chocolates do not directly bring down the bad cholesterol levels in your blood. But researchers from San Diego State University conducted a small controlled study illustrating that eating dark chocolate has positive effects in lowering blood sugar levels and also bad cholesterol levels and increasing the good cholesterol levels. But the researchers cautioned that chocolate is also high in saturated fat and calories and must therefore be eaten in moderation.

Unsaturated fats

Foods containing saturated fats like red meat and dairy increase your blood cholesterol numbers. Polyunsaturated fats are heart friendly and do not increase your bad cholesterol in your blood.

Avocados have oleic acid, which helps lower the bad cholesterol. Avocados also have mainly monounsaturated fatty acids and are friendly to the heart.
Red wine contains resveratrol, a chemical found in the red grape skin, supposed to lower the bad cholesterol in your blood. You need to drink a few bottles of red wine per day to get adequate amounts of resveratrol to benefit.
Black and green teas have antioxidants that will reduce cholesterol levels in your blood. Sri Lankans living abroad seems to drink more coffee than tea- just an observation at dinner parties.

Foods that binds cholesterol

Most selected plant foods, fruits and seeds contain high dietary fibre. The soluble fibre in these foods seems to bind cholesterol in the digestive system and drag them out of the gut before they enter the circulation.

Wholegrains

Wholegrain breads, pastas and cereals contain high fibre, which can help lower LDL levels. Without eating refined process food eat foods made of whole-wheat flour and brown or wild rice.

Oats

Having a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast improves your cholesterol level in your blood. Out of a requirement of 25-35 mg of fibre a day, a bowl of rice produce at least 5-10 gm which binds the cholesterol preventing absorption.
Beans

Beans are rich in soluble fibre and are an excellent vegetable to reduce our blood cholesterol levels.
Other vegetables, fruits and seeds that contain high fibre that binds cholesterol are: eggplant, okra, nuts, apples, grapes, strawberries and citrus fruits.
Nuts

Eating high fibre nuts daily brings down your blood LDL. One has to be careful about the quantities you eat because one-ounce portion of nuts can pack 160 calories or more. It is best to munch a few nuts in between meals to prevent hunger pangs especially when you are on a weight reducing diet.

Plant sterols and stanols

Sterols and stanols are extracted from plants gum assists the body’s ability to absorb cholesterol from food. These compounds are similar in structure to cholesterol. Most foods like margarine, granola bars, chocolate and orange juice are fortified with these extracts to prevent absorption of cholesterol from the gut. When you eat these compounds they help limit the cholesterol your body can absorb.
Fatty fish, soybeans and foods made from them too reduce absorption of cholesterol by LDL- lowering omega-3 fats. The latter also reduces triglycerides in the blood stream.

Conclusions: Without popping statin pills to lower your cholesterol, the natural way is to keep LDL in mind, and eat high fibre foods, including fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts. You need to say goodbye to a few snacks and fast foods. This also means that you give up foods manufactured using transfat. Transfats are added onto foods to prolong their shelf life, by adding hydrogen to a liquid fat to help it solidify. You need to add daily exercise as an adjuvant to bringing down cholesterol levels in your blood.

(A major 2012 analysis of several controlled trials involving hundreds of men and women found that dietary changes reduced LDL and total cholesterol while exercise alone had no effect on either. (However, adding aerobic exercise did enhance the lipid-lowering effects of a heart-healthy diet.-ref Harvard Medical School))