How To Lower Cholesterol Levels

You want to avoid foods high in cholesterol, but there's one problem -- you don't know what they are!  Sure, you know all about fatty steaks, french fries and anything labeled "trans fat".  But when there are no labels to look at, how do you know if the food on your plate are high cholesterol foods, or if they are good for you?  Let's find out, with a list of high cholesterol foods!

High Cholesterol Foods and Your Body

High cholesterol foods, like saturated fats (think bacon or a fast-food hamburger) are obviously not good for you, if you are trying to lower your cholesterol levels.  But why are these foods bad for you -- do they affect your body?

Here's the deal; high cholesterol foods aren't all that bad in of themselves (except for trans fats).  However, when you already have too much cholesterol swimming around in your bloodstream, you don't need to dump more into your arteries.   Because if you remember when we talked about "what is cholesterol" on the how to lower cholesterol page, cholesterol is a sticky, gooey substance in your blood vessels.  When too much comes together, the "goo" can stop up your arteries - definitely not good!

Foods High in Cholesterol

Now that you know why you don't want to dump excess cholesterol into your bloodstream, let's talk about what foods you may or may not want to eat.  Some are obvious, and some hide in plain sight.  Here's a short list to help you distinguish friendly foods from those to stay away from.

Fast Food:  Sure, there are some fast foods that are reasonable to eat, but in general, avoid all fast foods -- even the salads (which can be drowning in high-fat dressing).

Meats and Poultry:  Yes, the usual suspects here of foods high in cholesterol include beef steaks, bacon and the like.  But have you considered there is plenty of saturated fat in chicken (or more specifically, chicken skin)?  If you're eating fried chicken or even chicken wings with the skin still on, you're getting saturated fats.

Shrimp & Lobster:  I know, shrimp and lobster are kind of a luxury or "treat" food, but they still do have a fair amount of cholesterol.  As long as you relegate them to "treat" status and not everyday food, you're probably OK here.  That is, of course, unless you are frying the shrimp or dunking the lobster into melted butter!

Full-Fat Dairy:  You scream, I scream for ice cream, but if you're buying the full-fat kind, you're eating one of the foods high in cholesterol.  Same thing goes for full-fat cheeses and milks.  You're safer to choose a lower-fat or skim milk or cheese.

Baked Goods:   Another group of high cholesterol foods to avoid is the category of baked goods.  If you're baking them yourself and know what's going into them, you're probably OK (assuming you're using heart-healthy ingredients).  But when it comes to things like muffins, donuts, cakes, etc. you buy in a store, there may be a lot of cholesterol lurking in the wings.

You're probably wondering about eggs.  While they used to be on the "danger, danger!" list, the word now is that you can enjoy them in moderation.  The reason is that there are other nutrients in the yolk that help negate the extra cholesterol.  Just don't go hog wild and eat a carton a week!  Or, you can have your eggs and eat them too, by cooking with extra egg whites.  In other words, instead of scrambling 2 whole eggs, use one whole egg and just the whites from the other.

Avoiding High Cholesterol Foods

Don't think that you have to live on bread and water (wait...bread is a baked good); you can enjoy many of the above foods in small amounts on occasion.  For example, who isn't going to have a little (emphasis on "little") cake and ice cream at a birthday party?   The point is to use common sense.

By avoiding foods high in cholesterol whenever you can, you're helping your body to get rid of the excess it already has.  Here's to your health!

P.S.  Just so you know, there are also foods that help to lower cholesterol, too!

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