I have outlined some easy steps to combat high cholesterol. The idea is to increase the good cholesterol and reduce the bad. Diet changes can reduce cholesterol by up to 20 %. And there are no side effects as you might see in taking medication, besides a slimmer happier you.
1. Cut out all saturated fat – avoid animal fats like cream, butter, meat fat and chicken skin, chocolates, chips, cheese, fried foods and take aways
2. Increase unsaturated fat – these include your plant fats such as peanut butter, nuts, seeds, olives, olive oil, canola oil, avos, pesto…These foods are actually protective.
3. Omega 3 – boost your omega 3 to 6 ratio to reduce risk of clotting and inflammation. This is due to eating more oily fish (sardines, pilchards, fresh tuna and salmon) and flax seed, hemp seeds and chia seeds.
4. Stanols and sterols – miracle plant phytosterols that reduce cholesterol uptake and production which can reduce cholesterol by up to 15%. You can find this is proActive margarine and Benecol drinking yoghurt from Woolies.
5. Soluble fibre – found in oat bran, oats, legumes and the fleshy part of vegetables, which forms a gel lining the stomach preventing saturated fat and cholesterol uptake and production. It also stabilizes blood glucose.
I have a particular client in mind who came to me with high cholesterol and was slightly overweight. This person has been such a star client and followed my instructions to the letter. So far their weight has dropped significantly (about 10 kgs) and their cholesterol dropped from 7.4 to 4.6!!!!!! This person has been such an inspiration.
