Although atherosclerosis may take decades to manifest in heart attack or stroke, the disease may actually begin in childhood. It is this stage of life that structures (accumulation of high cholesterol levels) are laid that will eventually lead to cardiovascular disease later in life. Therefore, it is serves well to begin the fight against cholesterol early in life. You may ask when is early enough? The experts say it can start as early as 2 years especially for those with a family history of cardiovascular disease. But, if your fight did not start from that time, don`t worry. You can still make it. Yes. It is very possible!
The chief means of avoiding high cholesterol levels in the blood is to lower one's dietary intake of cholesterol. Because cholesterol is present in animal fats (i.e., saturated or polysaturated fats) but not in fats obtained from plant sources (i.e., unsaturated or polyunsaturated fats), this can be done by:
- reducing one's total intake of fats
- partly or wholly replacing one's consumption of saturated fats with that of unsaturated fats
- reducing one's consumption of foods containing cholesterol.
Thus, foods high in saturated fats, such as lard, butter, cheese, whole milk, red meat, candy, and baked goods containing shortening, would be avoided, as well as cholesterol-containing foods (like egg yolks, shrimp, and brains and other animal organs). Unsaturated fats such as fish oils and corn oil, peanut oil, safflower oil, and soybean oils would replace animal fats. Recently, the fish oils found in salmon, tuna, mackerel, and certain other marine fishes were found to raise HDL levels and thus reduce or retard atherosclerotic processes.
Other helpful tips to reducing cholesterol levels naturally include;
- reduction in the intake of high carbohydrate foods like white rice, fructose and granulated sugar, potato chips, flour-derived pastries, white bread, candies, processed and unprocessed foods high in simple sugars, e.t.c.
- increased intake of dietary fiber contained in foods like dried beans, oat bran, oats, psyllium husks, oranges, carrots, apples, skins of fruits and roots of tubers, and whole wheat.
- removing skin from poultry before consumption
- avoiding baked and fried food
These measures, when implemented to the later, will be effective in reducing cholesterol levels naturally.