As people get older, their cholesterol levels increase naturally. Finding the ideal diet for people suffering from or at risk of having high cholesterol levels is crucial for maintaining good health and avoiding diseases.
Changing your diet can rapidly improve your cardiovascular health and increase your life expectancy.
What is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is the fatty substance made by our livers, and it is also found in a lot of foods that we consume daily. It is actually a wax-like substance that helps in building cell membranes and producing hormones.
While our body does need certain amounts of cholesterol to function, our liver naturally produces enough on its own to meet all those requirements.
That’s why it is harmful to consume foods that increase your bad cholesterol (LDL), which puts you at a risk of heart attacks and other heart ailments.
What is the Ideal Cholesterol Level?
A person’s total cholesterol level is the overall amount of cholesterol found in their blood. It consists of:
• Low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) (bad cholesterol)
• High-density lipoproteins (HDLs) (good cholesterol)
• Triglycerides
Total blood cholesterol level = HDL + LDL + 20% of your triglycerides
According to a lot of research work, including the results of the Framingham Heart Study, the ideal blood cholesterol level is below 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).
Why Plant-Based?
Diets that are high in saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol dramatically increase your cholesterol levels. That’s why foods like meat, dairy products, and eggs raise cholesterol levels and affect your heart health negatively. Furthermore, foods high in saturated fat are detrimental to our heart health and overall well-being since they can trigger the body to produce extra cholesterol.
On the other hand, plants do the opposite. They do not contain cholesterol and are extremely low in saturated fats. Moreover, plants are rich in soluble fiber, which reduces the production of cholesterol by our liver as it slows down its absorption in our body. Foods like barley, oatmeal and certain fruits and vegetables are healthy and good sources of soluble fiber.
What Does Research Say?
In 2017, researchers from the Physicians Committee conducted a study and published it in the Nutrition Reviews. As part of this project, they reviewed 49 studies that compared plant-based diets with omnivorous diets to test their effects on cholesterol.
Their findings concluded that plant-based diets lowered total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL levels when compared to omnivorous diets. Low-fat, plant-based regimens typically reduce LDL levels by about 15 to 30 percent.
The Bottom Line
Adopting a plant-based dietary system along with adequate sleep, sufficient water intake, regular exercise and reduced stress levels will help keep your cholesterol levels in check, and it can also give people the most realistic and proven chance to reverse heart disease in many cases.
