Buying Well
In order to change your diet successfully, you will first need to buy the right types of food. Shopping for food may be a little confusing with all the different choices available in the market these days. However, following the few tips provided below can help you along your way to a lower cholesterol diet.
Know Your Food
Low cholesterol food that make good choices include:
- Seafood
- Poultry
- Lean cuts - get your butcher to trim off the fat
- Starchy foods - potatoes, grains, cereals and breads
- Beans and oats
- Fresh fruit and vegetables
- Low-fat diary products
Know the Different Types of Fat
There are generally 3 types of fat - saturated, mono-unsaturated, poly-unsaturated. Try avoiding saturated fats; and choose non-animal mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats. Saturated fat is the main culprit in increasing your cholesterol levels in the blood. Studies have shown that mono-unsaturated can help lower bad cholesterol (LDL) without lowering good cholesterol (HDL) levels. Poly-unsaturated fat reduces both bad and good cholesterol.
Sources of mono-unsaturated include olive and canola oil while sources of poly-unsaturated fat include sunflower and corn oil.
Processed Food - Read the Labels
Once you know the type of base foods that you should consume and understand the different types of fat, you can use this knowledge to judge the purchase and consumption of processed food. The best way to do this is to read the label in the packaging of the processed food.
The key points to find out and note are:
- What is the normal serving size?
- How many calories are there in one serving?
- How much fat content exists and how many calories originate from fat?
- What type of fat is found in the food - saturated, mono-unsaturated or poly-unsaturated?
Once you know the composition of the processed food, you will be in a better position to judge the purchase and consumption of the food.