Now that researchers know high-cholesterol foods don’t actually raise blood cholesterol that much, they’ve had to look to other culprits, says registered dietitian Marie Spano, a sports nutritionist based in Atlanta.
One of the foods to avoid with high cholesterol is meat. You may not realize, however, that your body needs some cholesterol—it’s put to use building cells and crucial hormones.
Prepackaged baked goods, desserts, even some types of chocolate. Read labels and avoid anything with partially hydrogenated oils listed among the ingredients, Spano says.
Deep-fried foods also tend to be unhealthy or fatty to begin with—think of fried chicken, fried mozzarella sticks, and donuts, for example—making them a double threat.
When you eat simple carbohydrates that are stripped of fibre your body breaks them down just like sugar, and both inflammation and LDL cholesterol rise as a result.
Not only are most cereals made of refined carbohydrates, but cold breakfast cereals also tend to pack in the added sugars, warns Spano.
Coconut products (oil, flour, water) are enjoying popularity among some health gurus, even though their high saturated fat content can raise LDL cholesterol.
Study authors said that over the long term, the elevated LDL and total cholesterol levels could raise the study subjects’ risk of coronary artery disease by 10 per cent.