By: Novoviva webmaster
I am on a low cholesterol diet, how much cholesterol should I consume per day? Also, I'm trying to find a list of low cholesterol foods but all that keeps coming up is low cholesterol diets! can you give me a list?
Guidelines advise that you keep your total cholesterol below 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) and your LDL cholesterol below 100 mg/dL — or below 70 mg/dL (1.8 mmol/L) if you're at very high risk of heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends that you limit your average daily cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams. If you have heart disease, limit your daily intake to less than 200 milligrams.
Foods that come from plants (dry beans, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds) don't contain cholesterol. Low-fat and fat-free dairy products, poultry, and most varieties of fish contain little cholesterol. Eliminating butter, trans fat margarines, and polyunsaturated oils and replacing them with canola and olive oil or plant sterols will also help to lower cholesterol. Check out the labels on your packaged foods -- avoid foods with saturated and trans fats, as most of these foods generally contain substantial amounts of dietary cholesterol.
Cholesterol only needs to be regulated in those individuals with cholesterol-sensitivity. However, the average population can consume higher amounts of cholesterol, as the body can accommodate and produce less. The greatest determinant of cholesterol is saturated fat intake. That is something that the general public should worry about more than cholesterol. Also, I'm not saying that anyone should cut saturated fat out of their diet, like much of the mainstream media likes to do. However, if you have high cholesterol, saturated fat is the first thing to limit.