Cholesterol

Food, Health & Nutrition

Many people who have high levels of cholesterol in their blood avoid foods like eggs and seafood, because they believe that these foods will only worsen their problem. However, it is wrong to blame food for high cholesterol. High levels of cholesterol occur in the blood when the body makes too much cholesterol. It does this when saturated fats are consumed. Many foods are avoided because they are believed to be fatty, yet in many cases these foods are of great benefit. Rosemary Stanton looked at the amounts of cholesterol in some foods, and at how to minimise saturated fats in your diet.

Seafood

Oysters have very little cholesterol. What analysts once thought to be cholesterol in oysters, turned out to be something else.

Prawns and squid have virtually no cholesterol. Even if you could afford to eat seafood every day, it would not affect your blood cholesterol level and in fact it will actually protect you against heart disease .

Other sources of protein

Lean red meat contains a small amount of saturated fat, but is quite safe to eat in small portions a couple of times a week. However, big, fatty steaks should be avoided. An egg has less saturated fat than would be in the amount of margarine spread on toast. Eating four to five eggs a week is unlikely to affect your blood cholesterol level.

What to do

Ignore food labels that read 'no cholesterol' and instead check the fat content listed in the contents of the product. If your blood cholesterol is high, or you want to avoid it becoming that way, make some changes to your diet: eat bread without a butter or margarine spread. Poly- or mono- unsaturated fats have less fat than butter, but their fat content is still high. choose lean meat and skinless chicken. use low fat dairy products. keep coconut milk to a minimum. snack on fruit and nuts not chips and chocolate. cook your own food rather than relying on takeaways. when eating out, ask for your meal grilled rather than fried - it is much better for you, and tastes a lot better.