A diet with high cholesterol in itself usually does not give the desired effect, it only helps in combination with taking medication. But without it, the treatment will not work.
When compiling a menu, it is necessary to take into account not only the level of cholesterol in a person's blood, but also his gender and age. You do not have to leave such a diet, because in this case you will have to adhere to a therapeutic diet for the rest of your life.
What does high cholesterol mean?
Cholesterol (cholesterol) is a steroid that is essential for the human body. It plays an important role in lipid metabolism, is involved in the production of hormones. This substance is present in all cells of the body, even in the brain. However, the situation is dangerous when cholesterol levels rise.
Transport of cholesterol molecules to tissues is performed using proteins. They are of several types:
- High density lipoproteins (HDL). This is the so-called "good" cholesterol. They absorb excess fat, transport it to the liver, where it is processed into bile acids, which are then excreted through the intestines.
- Low density lipoproteins (LDL). This is "bad" cholesterol. They supply its molecules to tissues. With elevated levels of LDL, excess of this substance is deposited, forming plaques, leading to cardiovascular disease.
- Very low density lipoproteins (VLDL). They are considered to be the most dangerous type as they transport fats like triglycerides from the liver to the tissues.
If you need a low cholesterol diet, it means that a person has a high level of LDL and it is "bad" cholesterol that he needs to reduce.
Basics of diet
A hypocholesterolemic diet with a high level of cholesterol is observed throughout life. This is not a completely cholesterol-free diet as it is impossible to eliminate all foods that contain cholesterol from the diet. Recent studies have shown that if you completely rule it out, the situation will lead to neurological and endocrine disorders.
Basic principles of diet nutrition:
- Eat at least 400 g of fruits and vegetables daily. Their share can even be increased. Starchy vegetables such as potatoes and pumpkins may be consumed, but in limited quantities, no more than the physiologically acceptable norm. Their cholesterol load is low, but they contain carbohydrates.
- The use of vegetable protein at the expense of legumes if there are no kidney diseases.
- Fractionated nutrition, where the total amount of food is divided into 5-6 meals. This will help ensure drainage of the gallbladder.
- Limit your salt intake to 5 g per day.
- Exclusion of pickled, salty and smoked foods, sweet sodas.
- Sugar consumption at the level of 5 tsp. on a day. The amount is taken into account overall, with all beverages and dishes.
- Body weight control.
If necessary, you can use vegetable, apple or kefir fasting days. When you are overweight, start with a cottage cheese or low-cholesterol fruit and vegetable diet and then move on to a diet plan for cholesterol.
Prohibited products
The standard LDL-lowering diet limits or eliminates high-fat foods. The prohibited ones include:
- fatty meat and fish;
- slaughter waste;
- cream and fat milk;
- margarines.
Only because of this you can reduce your cholesterol level by 10-15%. Sometimes it is not even necessary to follow a diet. It is enough to refuse the listed products, include in the menu for each day more vegetables and fruits, seafood, vegetable fats.
When putting together a diet, it is important to remember that in order to lower cholesterol, it is not necessary to completely exclude fat. Their proportion is determined individually depending on the severity of the disease. Sometimes it has to be reduced by 20%, but usually the restrictions are not so marked. Vegetable oils should also be used with caution, no more than usual, as they contribute to the accumulation of harmful substances in the body.
With high sugar levels, you need to reduce the amount of carbohydrates. But with normal body weight and glucose levels, you can increase the proportion of complex carbohydrates slightly to give the body energy.
To reduce the content of fat and cholesterol in the daily menu, follow the following rules:
- fat is cut from meat, skin is necessarily removed from poultry;
- vegetables are never cooked with meat as they absorb fat;
- any recipe is adapted to this diet, which reduces the fat content of it (for example, they take sour cream with a lower fat content);
- rice dishes, mashed potatoes, pasta cooked without butter.
You should also use non-stick cookware to avoid frying.
Approved products
The hypocholesterolemic diet allows the following products:
- Lean meat and fish. The most useful are the fish in the cold sea, which contain omega-3 acids that affect fat metabolism.
- Vegetable oils that bind and remove cholesterol (this is not only olive, but also soybean or rapeseed oil).
- Dairy products, including cottage cheese, sour cream, low-fat cheese.
- Nuts, especially walnuts and almonds as they are high in vitamins, folic acid, magnesium and arginine. However, they contain a lot of calories, so you need to eat them in small amounts.
- Cereals - buckwheat, rice, oatmeal.
- Eggs - no more than 2-4 per week, depending on health status.
- Soy products. They are very useful, but we are only talking about high quality items, for example, you can eat tofu.
- Foods that contain dietary fiber are wheat and oat bran.
- Fruits, especially apples and citrus fruits, as they help lower blood pressure and prevent blood clots.
Bread can be eaten, but only yesterday's baking or in the form of toasts. Tea is also included in the daily diet. However, to reduce potential damage, it should be weak and with a minimum of sugar.
Recipes for dishes
The need to follow an anti-cholesterol diet does not mean that a person is forced to eat the same dishes all the time.
By using cholesterol-lowering foods, you can create a healthy and tasty menu for proper nutrition.
citrus jam
Citrus fruits contain a lot of pectin that is involved in the digestive processes. It forms a very viscous mass that helps remove cholesterol from the body before it enters the bloodstream. Citrus fruits are good in any form. They can be eaten raw, as part of a fruit salad, and jam is also made from them.
To prepare it, take:
- orange - 1 pc. ;
- grapefruit - 1 pc. ;
- lemon - 1 pc. ;
- sugar - 0, 5 kg;
- water - 500 ml.
Cooking:
- Citrus fruits are washed, squeezed out of the fruit juice with pulp.
- Coarse white fibers are cut from the peel and cut into thin strips.
- Raw materials are placed in a pan.
- Add juice and water.
- Cook for 12-20 minutes.
- Add sugar and keep on low heat until the mixture reaches a viscous state. When it cools, it turns into jam.
White bean soup with herbs
Legumes - lentils, beans, peas - contain dietary fiber that is useful for the cardiovascular system. They have a high protein content and can replace fatty meats in the diet. They are cooked in different ways. Mediterranean cuisine includes many varieties of dishes with legumes. For example, you can cook white bean soup with herbs.
For this you need:
- dry white beans - 1 tbsp. ;
- bulb - 1 pc. ;
- carrots - 1 pc. ;
- chopped celery stalk - 1 pc. ;
- weak chicken broth - 0, 5 l;
- water - 0, 5 l;
- salt and spices - to taste.
Cooking:
- The beans are soaked overnight and then cooked for 2 hours. It turns out about 500-600 g of the finished product.
- Onions, carrots and celery cook for 8-10 minutes.
- Pour the beans into the pan and add the vegetables.
- Pour in broth and water.
- Add salt and spices.
- Bring to a boil.
- Let stand on low heat for another 15 minutes.
- Half of the bean-vegetable mass is taken out of the soup, whipped in a blender, returned to the remaining ingredients.
It becomes a very thick soup in which different types of fresh herbs are added before serving.
carrot chops
Carrots are another product that can lower cholesterol, including due to the pectin contained in it. From it you can cook meatballs.
Required:
- medium-sized carrots - 3 pcs. ;
- eggs - 3 pcs. ;
- flour - about 5-6 tbsp. l. with a roller coaster;
- salt - to taste.
Cooking:
- Carrots are crushed on a coarse grater.
- Add eggs, flour and salt.
- Everything is mixed.
- Chops are shaped and cooked in a non-stick frying pan without oil or in the oven, which is turned several times.
sweet pepper salad
Sweet peppers help strengthen blood vessels and remove cholesterol. You can make a healthy salad out of it.
For this you need:
- pepper - 2 pcs. ;
- red onion - 2 pcs. ;
- green - to taste;
- vegetable oil - for dressing.
Cooking:
- Cut vegetables.
- Sprinkle with herbs.
- Filled with vegetable oil.
Baked eggplant with ham
These vegetables are high in potassium and normalize metabolism. You can cook eggplant baked with low-fat ham.
This will require:
- eggplant - 2 pcs. ;
- ham - 100 g;
- low-fat sour cream - 3 tbsp. l . ;
- grated cheese - 70-80 g;
- green - to taste.
Cooking:
- Eggplants are washed, cut in half, spread on a baking sheet.
- The ham is crushed, mixed with chopped herbs.
- Add sour cream.
- Spread the mixture over the eggplant and bake for 15 minutes.
You can experiment with all the well-known recipes, changing the ingredients in them for more useful.
diet for high cholesterol in women
With a normal level of cholesterol in the blood there is no need for an anti-cholesterol diet, it can even be harmful. Therefore, it is necessary to know the indicators in which such nutrition is indicated. For women, the norm is reflected in the following table:
| Age | Total cholesterol, mmol / l | "Bad" cholesterol, mmol / l | "Useful" cholesterol, mmol / l |
| 35-40 years old | Up to 6, 27 | Not higher than 4, 45 | Not higher than 2, 12 |
| 40-45 years | Up to 6, 53 | Not higher than 4, 51 | Not higher than 2, 28 |
| 45-50 years old | Up to 6, 66 | Not higher than 4, 82 | Not higher than 2, 25 |
| 50-55 years | Up to 7. 15 | Not higher than 5, 21 | Not higher than 2, 38 |
| 55-60 years | Up to 7, 77 | Not higher than 5, 44 | Not higher than 2, 35 |
| 60-65 years | Up to 7, 69 | Not higher than 5, 80 | Not higher than 2, 38 |
It is necessary to pass the appropriate blood tests and act in accordance with the results. If the "bad" cholesterol is higher than normal, an anti-cholesterol diet is necessary. It has been followed for a long time. Depending on the state of health, it may be necessary for a lifetime.
A 7-day trial menu for women looks like this:
| Day of the week | broom |
| Monday |
|
| Tuesday |
|
| Wednesday |
|
| Thursday |
|
| Friday |
|
| Saturday |
|
| Sunday |
|
This menu is adjusted to reflect age and other chronic conditions. For example, women over 60 should restrict meat in favor of fish and dairy products. This is especially true for those who suffer from arthritis and osteoarthritis, as the meat contains substances that promote inflammation in the joints. With high sugar content, you need to limit carbs.
Features of anti-cholesterol diet in men
The table of cholesterol levels for men is as follows:
| Age | Total cholesterol, mmol / l | "Bad" cholesterol, mmol / l | "Useful" cholesterol, mmol / l |
| 35-40 years old | Up to 6, 99 | Not higher than 4, 90 | Not higher than 1, 60 |
| 40-45 years | Up to 6, 94 | Not higher than 4, 82 | Not higher than 1, 73 |
| 45-50 years old | Up to 7. 15 | Not higher than 5, 23 | Not higher than 1, 66 |
| 50-55 years | Up to 7. 17 | Not higher than 5, 10 | Not higher than 1, 63 |
| 55-60 years | Up to 7. 15 | Not higher than 5, 26 | Not higher than 1, 84 |
| 60-65 years | Up to 7. 15 | Not higher than 5, 44 | Not higher than 1, 91 |
A sample menu for a week for a man can look like this:
| Day of the week | broom |
| Monday |
|
| Tuesday |
|
| Wednesday |
|
| Thursday |
|
| Friday |
|
| Saturday |
|
| Sunday |
|
Men also have age-related dietary features associated with the gradual decrease in physical activity, so less protein is needed than with intense exercise.
Age traits in nutrition
With increased bad cholesterol, you need to monitor your diet, but it is important to do this taking into account age-related characteristics.
Up to 40 years old
Metabolism is still high but begins to gradually decline. The main task of the diet is to speed up the metabolic process.
At this point, animal protein is still important, so you need to maintain the consumption of lean meat at least 3-4 times a week.
At 40-50 years of age
At this point, hormonal changes begin in the body, the need for animal protein decreases.
It is recommended to reduce meat consumption to 2 times a week, include more fish dishes in the diet. Instead of coffee, it is better to drink herbal or ginger tea.
At 50-60 years of age
The rate of metabolic processes continues to slow down, which also reduces the role of cholesterol, which is no longer needed in such amounts.
At this point, whole milk must be abandoned completely and replaced with sour milk products.
After 60 years
Meat can not be eaten more than once a week, eggs - no more than 3 a week. The body may be deficient in iron and iodine, so it is recommended to consume more buckwheat, sea fish and other foods that contain these substances.
diet for overweight
Dietary nutrition, from a certain age, is necessary for everyone, regardless of weight. However, if a person has severe obesity, a low carbohydrate program is necessary.
Therefore, sweets, cakes, some fruits (grapes and dates) are eliminated from the diet, leaving only healthy carbohydrates contained in grains, vegetables, etc.