When selecting foods to avoid high cholesterol, you need to be aware of some of the misinformation that is out there. A lot of the time when we think about high cholesterol then our first thought is that we need to totally eliminate cholesterol causing foods from our lives, the fact is thatwe do need some cholesterol in our blood for our bodies to function the right way and also while we can avoid certain foods to avoid high cholesterol, diet only plays a small part in cholesterol levels.

Cholesterol is a wax like substance which is created by the liver and the body needs it for creating and looking after cell membranes and equilibrating the hormones. As we have all ready mentioned a small part of it can be made through what we eatbut the vast majority of it is produced by our livers. The foods to avoid high cholesterol are chiefly foods that include saturated fats such as red meats and dairy products, and probably the worst types are foods that include trans fats; trans fats are produced from hydrogenated vegetable oils, and a great deal found in fast foods and ready made meals foods.

The foods to avoid high cholesterol that we have mentioned i.e. the saturated fats and trans fats will keep down a little bit of production of LDL cholesterol normally refferred to as “bad” cholesterol, nevertheless there is another cholesterol that you want to increase which is HDL cholesterol. The function of the HDL cholesterol is that it helps to lower plaque buildup created by LDL cholesterol and additionally it clears up the LDL cholesterol and returns it to the liver for recycling. Foods that can give you a good boost of this HDL cholesterol are usually foods that comprise of omega three fats along the lines of flax seed and walnuts; oily fish is particularly superior at boosting the HDL cholesterol because it contains two omega3 fats known as DHA and EPA and these have been scientifically proven to not only help balance out cholesterol levels but also cut triglycerides as well.

Quite often if you go to the physicians to talk over your cholesterol levels, they will just look your total cholesterol and look to lower that rather than observe the seperate cholesterol levels and also triglyceride levels. Ordinarily the course of action that is taken is to prescribe statins. The problem with statins is that although they will reduce your LDL cholesterol by way of suppressing the enzymes that produce it, concurrently they also suppress enzymes that the body needs to work properly, and suppressing these needed enzymes can lead to some extreme health complications. Unfortunately statins are dished out quite often without looking at other treatmentrs to help balance out the cholesterol levels such as talking over foods to avoid high cholesterol. You need to consider carefully if you are offered statins by a doctor as once you are on them then you are on them for life.

However, at the end of the day, they are a qualified medical expert, so ultimately you should always follow their advice or get a second opinion from another suitably qualified medical expert.

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