How To Control Cholesterol

Hypercholesterolemia or high cholesterol can be genetic, however the most common cause is a bad diet. Excess cholesterol puts at risk our health and can cause serious cardiovascular problems, but can be reduced with a proper diet.
The treatment of hypercholesterolemia requires a change in lifestyle: healthy food, reduce the intake of alcohol, stop smoking, avoid excess weight and perform physical exercise.
The diet should be based on foods such as: fruit and vegetables; vegetables; whole grains (bread, pasta, rice); pulses; blue fish (tuna, sardines, anchovies, salmon… ); nuts (walnuts, almonds) and virgin olive oil. These foods contain nutrients that help to reduce blood cholesterol levels and increase the so-called HDL-cholesterol (good cholesterol).
On the other hand, you must avoid those foods that include grease detrimental to the heart. It is preferable to replace the whole milk by the nonfat; butter with the olive oil and fatty meats by lean meats such as rabbit or chicken without skin. As for the sausages, egg yolks, fried commercial and industrial bakery reduce their consumption to the minimum.
Using healthy cooking techniques and with little fat as: baked, grilled, on the grill, microwave, roast or steam cooking.
The Harvard Medical School has developed a list of the top ten foods considered as the most effective to help reduce cholesterol:
- oats.
- Barley
- Pulses.
- Eggplant, okra and other fruits.
- Dried Fruit.
- Vegetable Oils, among which is the olive oil.
- Soya.
- Blue Fish.