Thursday, November 05, 2009

Lower Your Cholesterol Levels

Exercise is of course very important but there are other things you can do to to bring your cholesterol to reasonable levels. Read food labels and buy foods low in saturated fat and low in cholesterol. To help you know what to look for when grocery shopping, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) offers a partial shopping list for you:

* Breads such as whole wheat, rye, pumpernickel, or white

* Soft tortillas, corn or whole wheat

* Hot and cold cereals except granola or muesli

* Rice (white, brown, wild, basmati, or jasmine)

* Grains (bulgur, cous cous, quinoa, barley, hominy, millet)

* Fruits: Any fresh, canned, dried, or frozen without added sugar

* Vegetables: Any fresh, frozen, or (low salt) canned without cream or cheese sauce

* Fresh or frozen juices, without added sugar

* Fat-free or one percent milk

* Cheese (with three grams of fat or less per serving)

* Low fat or nonfat yogurt

* Lean cuts of meat (eye of round beef, top round, sirloin, pork tenderloin)

* Lean or extra lean ground beef

* Chicken or turkey, white or light meat (remove skin)

* Fish (most white meat fish is very low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol)

* Tuna, light meat canned in water

* Peanut butter, reduced fat

* Eggs, egg whites, egg substitutes

* Low-fat cookies or angel food cake

* Lowfat frozen yogurt, sorbet, sherbet

* Popcorn without butter or oil, pretzels, baked tortilla chips

* Margarine (soft, diet, tub, trans fat free, or liquid)

* Vegetable oil (canola, olive, corn, peanut, sunflower)

* Non-stick cooking spray

* Sparkling water, tea, lemonade

No comments: