Therapeutic diet for high blood cholesterol is a key link in the treatment of this disease. Learn how to avoid excess fat and cholesterol in your diet. If you suffer from hyperlipidemia, we will decide how to choose the right healthy food for you every day and the menu for about a week.
20 Basic Diets for High Cholesterol
High cholesterol can cause coronary heart disease, thrombosis of the veins of the lower leg, stroke and myocardial infarction. You can prevent the serious consequences of chronic hyperlipidemia by following the simple rules listed below.
- For hypercholesterolemia, the diet should be fractional. Try to eat small meals 5-6 times a day. Thus, there is no risk of increased appetite and overeating after a long fast.
- Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits at any time. Accelerates the excretion of excess cholesterol from the body to dietary fiber.
- With bad cholesterol, the diet should include foods that are mostly vegetable oils. When cooking, try to use olive oil instead of oil.
- Try to eat lean meat no more than twice a week. Recipes and menus made from poultry, veal, rabbit and lamb with high cholesterol are the most suitable.
- Proper nutrition with high cholesterol is supported by exercise. For those with high levels of low-density lipoprotein, a gentle walk of at least three kilometers a day is recommended.
- For hypercholesterolemia, the diet should consist mainly of steamed, cooked, boiled food. Frying should be avoided altogether.
- If you have high cholesterol, avoid foods high in animal fats. You don't need to eat pork fat, pork, bacon or smoked meat. Replace these foods with boiled poultry, fish, and seafood.
- Increased salt intake is indicated against high blood pressure and atherosclerosis. Try to eat no more than 5 grams of salt per day. It is better to leave the product completely.
- It is necessary to drink at least two liters of water a day, especially with an increase in blood pressure and bilirubin. An increase in these values usually indicates dysfunction of the liver and gallbladder, which leads to hyperlipidemia. Increased blood viscosity causes the lipids in the arteries to clot. You should eat sour fruits that dilute the blood, such as cherries and wolves.
- A bad combination of sweet pastries and high cholesterol. Milk chocolate should also be avoided. As an alternative dessert, unsweetened oatmeal cookies, dried fruits, nuts and honey are suitable. Sometimes you can taste the East Turkish delicacies.
- Daily caloric needs for women and men are different - an average of 2200 kcal and 2600 kcal, respectively. Increasing calories is also necessary for people who engage in strenuous physical labor. These factors are important in creating a diet.
- Avoid alcohol abuse. Red wine is allowed, but no more than two glasses a week.
- Coffee is a controversial partner in the fight against high cholesterol. It contains cafestol, which increases the production of endogenous cholesterol by the liver. However, some experts recommend drinking 1-2 cups of coffee a day instead, as it helps strengthen the cardiovascular system. So you can drink coffee, but do not abuse it. An alternative is chicory drink or green tea.
- Cook the porridge every day. Chop the cereal and try to boil it. If you have high cholesterol, do not eat a lot of butter in ready meals. For oats, for example, honey and dried fruits are suitable as flavorings.
- Hyperlipidemia precludes the use of fatty dairy products. Replace them with low-fat yogurts and kefir. Use nonfat yogurt and kefir as substitutes.
- Products that contain harmful trans fats, such as fast food, have strict contraindications. Avoid chips and other snacks.
- Remove the skin from the surface while cooking the birds. Because it makes food fatter and contains harmful ingredients.
- Semi-finished products and hypercholesterolemia are mutually exclusive concepts. Such products do not contain useful vitamins and minerals. Such food does not bring enough energy, but only ballast sticks to the body with calories and fats.
- Try not to overeat at night. Eat dinner no later than two hours before bedtime. Before going to bed, it is better to drink a glass of yogurt or eat a handful of dates and a handful of almonds to suppress your appetite.
- Your doctor will tell you how to eat best. After weighing all the risks and additional diseases, an experienced specialist will help you develop the most effective diet plan. Self-medication for high cholesterol is not recommended.
Elevated cholesterol is a reversible process if you follow the above recommendations and get regular medical checkups.
Popular diets to lower cholesterol in women and men
A cholesterol-lowering diet can be based on a combination of different foods. To significantly lower blood cholesterol levels, the recommended diet should be maintained for a long time, at least six months.
To understand the different types of diets that regulate high cholesterol, a comparative description of the most popular will help.
Mediterranean diet
Cholesterol-lowering Mediterranean diet is recommended for people with atherosclerosis, hypertension and overweight. The basis of this diet is an abundance of cheese, meat, fish and spices. However, these products are perfectly combined and have a positive effect on high cholesterol. List of foods in the diet:
- Spices and herbs.
- Soft cheeses like feta.
- Olive oil.
- Fish, mussels, shrimp.
- A bird, a lamb.
- By the norm of red wine.
- Unleavened bread made of wheat flour.
- Vegetables and fruits.
- Greek yogurt.
- Cereals.
Fatty meats, lard, sausages, gas and sugary drinks are completely eliminated from the diet. Because these foods can increase blood cholesterol. As an example, here is the following menu for high cholesterol per week:
Day 1
- Breakfast: three lentils with yogurt.
- Refresh with creamy Brussels sprouts soup with shrimp for lunch; plate with fruit and salad with olives and tofu.
- For dinner, you can eat lavash stuffed with feta cubes and salad (cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, a couple of olives).
Day 2
- A good start to the day is buckwheat cheese.
- Lunch - light soup with lentils, risotto with vegetables.
- In the evening, a good mood is provided by cooked salmon with olive oil mixed with Provencal herbs.
Day 3
- Breakfast - buckwheat with vegetable broth.
- Tuna cooked with vegetables for lunch restores strength; tomato puree soup.
- Dinner: salad with avocado with chicken breast and olive oil, pita.
Day 4
- Breakfast: yogurt with chopped hazelnuts and almonds, add a little honey.
- Lunch: soup with fish cutlets, baked potatoes with tomatoes.
- Dinner: vegetable salad with one egg, lemon juice and olive oil.
Day 5
- Breakfast: oatmeal, honey and raisins.
- Lunch provides energy - spinach puree and asparagus puree with liquid cream; A little boiled salmon with wild rice.
- Dinner: bake a pie with small rotten tomatoes and feta, grind tofu cubes in the crust.
Day 6
- Breakfast: dried fruit souffle, green tea.
- Lunch - cabbage soup, chicken with vegetables, a pita.
- Dinner includes zucchini with feta, avocado and pita with olive oil.
Day 7
- For breakfast: pour baked pumpkin with yogurt and honey.
- Lunch: sour cream soup with mushrooms and chanterelles; Chopped chicken with garlic in the oven sweet pepper.
- Dinner: Wild rice crab with mussels and shrimp.
You can use dates, prunes, raisins and almonds for a snack between meals. Such a diet not only helps to regulate high cholesterol, but also helps to reduce body weight.
Diet table №10
The cooking method is mainly boiling and baking. Because high cholesterol eliminates the use of fried foods. It is recommended to eat at least five meals a day. Dinner no later than two hours before bedtime. Consumables:
- Freshly squeezed juices of vegetables, jelly.
- Wheat bread.
- Fresh vegetable salads.
- Eggs without yolks.
- Fish: tuna, salmon, carp.
- Nonfat cottage cheese, kefir and yogurt.
- Kashi.
The following foods should be avoided: fat, fatty meat, especially red, salted and smoked fish delicacies, fatty cheeses, pickled vegetables, mustard. If you have high cholesterol, the sample menu for a week may be as follows:
- Breakfast: buckwheat cooked in 1% milk, soft-boiled eggs, weak green tea with milk.
- Dinner: a piece of boiled chicken or a fresh apple.
- Lunch: vegetable soup with barley groats, mushrooms and finely chopped zucchini, boiled salmon or vegetables cooked with carp (eg, bell peppers, onions, zucchini), 1 glass of fresh apple juice.
- Snack: rosehip tea, nuts and dried fruits (eg plums and almonds).
- Dinner: low-fat cottage cheese, boiled beets with apples, 1 cup skim milk.
- At night: 1 glass of nonfat yogurt.
During the week, you can combine a variety of dishes from vegetables, poultry and fish. For a snack, use nuts and fruits, such as bananas or apples. Dietary table No. 10 is recommended not only for the prevention of vascular atherosclerosis, but also for hypothyroidism. A high-cholesterol diet can be significantly reduced with a regular diet for at least four months.
Dietary table №10A
This diet has a number of limitations:
- Bread - a maximum of 145 g per day.
- vegetable broth - up to 180 ml.
- The use of cheese, pearl barley and millet is excluded.
- Do not eat very hot or cold foods.
The №10 dietary table, which has a positive effect on high cholesterol, looks like this every day:
- Breakfast: oatmeal with 1% milk, green tea, small apples.
- Snack: Baked apples with cottage cheese.
- Lunch: steamed chicken cutlets, mashed potatoes, half a glass of fresh apple juice.
- Lunch: prunes or dates.
- Dinner: oven-baked carrot-apple cutlets, half a glass of nonfat yogurt.
- Before going to bed: half a glass of rose infusion or chicory drink.
More than 35% of people over the age of 50 have high cholesterol levels. As a result, there is a risk of exacerbation of atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction, stroke. Therefore, at this age, it is especially important to follow a proper diet with light exercise.
Dietary table №10C
Table № 10C is a therapeutic diet for lowering cholesterol. This diet is recommended for people with high blood pressure caused by coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis. This menu is dominated by vegetable oils, dietary fiber, foods high in vitamins B, PP, C. The daily calorie content of the menu is about 2570 kcal. Fractional portions should be eaten in six doses per day.
Recommended foods that have a beneficial effect on high cholesterol include:
- such as.
- Sea kale.
- Vegetables and fruits can be eaten in large portions.
- Bake eggs or boil a little, a maximum of three pieces per week.
- Buckwheat, oats, barley porridge.
- Honey, one or two tablespoons per day.
- Try not to overcook the spaghetti.
A menu similar to Prohibited Foods includes №10. The approximate daily diet is as follows:
- Breakfast: lean boiled buckwheat, light cottage cheese with seasonal fruits, tea.
- Snack: baked apples or dried apricots.
- Lunch: boiled carrots, steamed beet cutlets, rice soup with low-fried vegetables in olive oil, seasonal fruit compote.
- Afternoon snack: sugar-free fruit smoothie or honey with a handful of hazelnuts.
- Dinner: Seasonal vegetable salad with olive oil and algae, salmon cooked with lemon slices and thyme (another oily fish), boiled potatoes, weak green tea.
- Before bedtime: a glass of 1% kefir.
A healthy lifestyle is not limited to diet. High cholesterol requires comprehensive treatment. Do not forget about exercise, as well as long walks in the fresh air.
low carb diet
Low carb diets include:
- Sweet cakes, white bread.
- Sugar and fructose, honey.
- Alcohol and gas and sugary drinks.
- Pasta and potatoes.
- Milk chocolate.
- Sweet fruits like grapes.
Large amounts of animal protein should be included in the daily diet, such as fish, dairy products, lean meat. A low-carb menu for a week can look like this:
Monday
- egg white omelette with chopped mushrooms and tomatoes;
- Creamy chicken and Brussels sprouts. Two whole loaves of bread;
- pear;
- Beef cooked with Bulgarian pepper.
Tuesday
- Thinly pour kefir with cottage cheese, raisins.
- Salmon ear. Two slices of wholemeal bread.
- Green apple.
- Baked chicken fillet with spinach.
Wednesday
- Cheese pies with low-fat sour cream.
- Buckwheat on the water and cooked chicken cutlet.
- Light brown.
- Cold chicken.
Thursday
- Whipped cheese.
- Cheese soup with chicken breast. Two whole grain toast.
- Half a grapefruit.
- Unrefined rice. Baked zucchini and carrot cutlets, fresh cucumbers.
Friday
- One soft-boiled egg is sprinkled with grated cheese.
- Fish cooked in a light cream sauce.
- Kiwi or an orange.
- Cooked beans, mashed. Chicken. One tomato.
- Before going to bed - a glass of kefir.
Saturday
- Cottage cheese and natural yogurt.
- Baked lamb and a cucumber.
- Tangerine or apple.
- Seafood. Arugula salad with olive oil.
Sunday
- Omelet with chicken breast.
- Baked Turkish fillet with broccoli.
- A glass of 1% kefir.
- Rabbit cooked with vegetables (onions, zucchini, sweet peppers).
It is recommended to drink up to two liters of fluid per day following this diet. Breastfeeding and pregnancy may be an indication against a low-carbohydrate diet in women. Early detection of elevated cholesterol can be successfully treated with nutrition. What diet to follow, only a doctor can decide after a detailed analysis of your history.
paleo diet
The Paleo diet includes foods that our Stone Age ancestors ate before agriculture developed. Numerous animal proteins form the basis of prehistoric nutrition. At the same time, carbohydrates and fats are used less in the diet. The main product is meat, which contains animal proteins. It speeds up metabolic processes and helps prevent the accumulation of excess fat.
The Paleo diet is suitable for lowering blood cholesterol because it reduces the consumption of animal fats. It is recommended to eat about three meals every five hours. The main licensed products are:
- Lean meat and poultry.
- Seafood, fish.
- Oils: olive, flax, sesame.
- Mushrooms, nuts and seeds are not heat treated.
- Fresh fruits, vegetables and berries.
With such a diet, sugar and salt, beans and cereals, dairy products, starch and vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes) are excluded from the diet. It is often recommended to use the products raw or after minimal heat treatment. This diet helps protect blood vessels from the formation of cholesterol and plaque. If the principles of the Paleo diet are followed, elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein can be restored to normal.
Keto diet
The keto diet is based on minimal consumption of carbohydrates. In this regard, the body trains fats and proteins to produce more energy. This high cholesterol diet helps reduce low density lipoproteins. At the same time there is an increase in the level of "good" cholesterol.
Avoid bread, sugar, pasta, fruits and sweets on a ketogenic diet. With a lack of carbohydrates, the body begins to rapidly deplete fat reserves.
This diet is similar to a low carb diet. When choosing the optimal menu, use the following rules:
- Breakfast: Try to eat 15 g of carbohydrates in the morning. The source can be cheese or vegetables. It is recommended to add toast with bran and eat an omelet with tomatoes and olive oil. Calorie content - 500-600 kcal.
- You need to limit carbohydrates at lunch. Nutritionists recommend eating soup with chicken (without potatoes, noodles). As a reminder, high cholesterol is recommended to eat vegetable soup. For the second, you can eat brown rice with breast and a piece of cheese.
- Dinner should include an increased percentage of protein and fiber. Makes poultry or lamb, veal and green vegetables. It is better to cook the meat and make a salad with a tablespoon of vegetables and olive oil.
When following a ketogenic diet, the body is in a state of ketosis due to the formation of ketone bodies (fatty acid derivatives) and works in an "emergency" mode. Therefore, medical supervision is required during such meals. Despite the associated risk, high cholesterol is normalized during a keto diet.
Some claim that diets help less to lower cholesterol and recommend taking statins. A very controversial statement. Many doctors and experts disagree radically on this.
Ornish's Vegetarian Diet
The diet was first developed by Bill Clinton's personal physician, Dean Ornish. It is based on strict control of consumed oils. No more than 20 grams of fat per day is allowed. This diet is indicated if a person is diagnosed with hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis and obesity. Basically the menu is vegetarian. This characterizes the increased percentage of carbohydrates in the food consumed.
Ornic nutrition should be combined with exercise and physical activity. The daily balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates is 10, 25, 75%, respectively. Recommended products for use:
- Vegetables are mostly green.
- Lentils, peas, beans.
- Apples and pears.
- Buckwheat porridge made from corn, wheat and rice.
Eat medium eggs, dairy products, cheese, cookies. Categorically excluded red meat, hard and confectionery products, butter, mayonnaise, olives, nuts, seeds.
The sample menu for the week can be organized as follows.
The first day
- Breakfast: chicory drink, a tablespoon of wheat bran with low-fat yogurt.
- Lunch: a few large potatoes baked with tomatoes, cucumbers, greens and iceberg lettuce, green apples.
- Snack: apricots or prunes (3 pieces), other seasonal fruits, low-fat cottage cheese.
- Dinner: toast made of two grains, apple or pear, hard wheat spaghetti sprinkled with low-fat cheese, fruit compote.
The second day
- Breakfast: freshly squeezed orange juice, rice porridge with skim milk, a glass of kefir.
- Lunch: salad with beans, tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers with mushrooms and onions, garnished with olive oil.
- Lunch: strawberries, wheat bread.
- Dinner: two slices of bread, half an avocado, buckwheat porridge with mushrooms and carrots, green tea.
The third day
- Breakfast: decaffeinated coffee, a glass of fruit muesli and low-fat milk.
- Lunch: soup with pumpkin and spinach, couscous with vegetables, pickled vinaigrette.
- Lunch: a glass of kefir, low-fat cookies.
- Dinner: half of eggplant cooked with onions and carrots, a plate of seasonal fruits, mint tea.
The fourth day
- Breakfast: pomegranate juice, pumpkin pancakes.
- Lunch: broccoli and cauliflower soup, asparagus and chicken fillet with rice.
- Snack: yogurt with low-fat cottage cheese, oatmeal cookies.
- Dinner: white cabbage cooked with carrots and onions, any fruit, currant compote.
The fifth day
- Breakfast: apple juice, cereal porridge.
- Lunch: two fish cutlets, mashed potatoes without milk and a little butter.
- Lunch: a cup of low-fat yogurt, green apples.
- Dinner: asparagus and green pea soup, weak tea.
Sixth day
- Breakfast: chicory, honey and cottage cheese.
- Lunch: turkey breast with pumpkin and pumpkin puree, orange juice.
- Lunch: oatmeal pudding, whole grain bread.
- Dinner: two cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and vegetables, mineral water.
The seventh day
- Breakfast: a slice of cottage cheese with raisins and chicory.
- Lunch: 2 lentil and carrot cutlets, rice.
- Snack: 3 baked cheesecakes, orange juice.
- Dinner: apples with cottage cheese and dried apricots, chamomile tea.
With strict adherence to the canons of this diet, high cholesterol can return to normal. Continuity and self-governance are critical to achieving results.
Continuous fasting
Fasting is used to lower blood cholesterol. High cholesterol can be treated with a diet full of starvation in the following ways: With malnutrition, the body begins to use low-density lipoprotein stores for energy throughout life. Already after 12 hours of fasting, cholesterol is released into the bloodstream as an alternative energy source to produce energy.
The approximate scheme of cholesterol starvation for a week:
On the first day - only freshly squeezed apple-carrot juice, diluted 1: 2 with water. On the second day, you can drink the juice without diluting it with water. You can eat 50 g of chopped carrots for lunch. Third - they drink grapefruit and carrot juice. Eat a hundred grams of vegetable puree, before going to bed - kefir.
On the fourth and fifth days, add chopped vegetables and fruits, and at night - light cottage cheese. On the sixth and seventh days, breakfast should consist of chopped vegetables, and dinner and lunch should include overcooked buckwheat or cereals. Such a strict diet can be carried out only in consultation with a doctor and under medical supervision. To regulate high cholesterol, it is necessary to periodically repeat the course of therapeutic fasting.
Choosing the optimal diet for high cholesterol is not easy - you need to study in detail all the features of a particular person's body. It is very important to take into account the accompanying diseases, gender and age. Only a properly designed menu is an effective prevention of the severe consequences of hypercholesterolemia.