A diet for high cholesterol in both men and women should limit the consumption of the following foods. We have compiled for you a table and a sample menu for a week to reduce cholesterol levels.

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The human body constantly produces this substance in sufficient quantities, but when certain foods are consumed, cholesterol is formed in excess in the blood. The body receives a dose of additional cholesterol when the diet contains animal products.

Why is excess cholesterol dangerous for women?

Excess cholesterol penetrates the walls of blood vessels and accumulates there. The connective tissue scars around this accumulation, forming a plaque and narrowing the blood flow. Thus, the blood supply slows down. It is dangerous when a blood clot breaks off and clogs a vessel. In this case, blood may not flow to the organ and its tissue dies.

When this process occurs in the heart, a heart attack occurs; if blood stops flowing to the brain, a stroke occurs.

A young and healthy female body produces the necessary amount of hormones in order to maintain normal blood cholesterol levels. During pregnancy or while breastfeeding, this substance is processed.

With age, a woman’s hormonal levels decrease, and during menopause she is at risk for developing strokes and heart attacks. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly monitor the amount of cholesterol in the blood and, if the norm is violated, adhere to a special menu and proper diet.

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Diet features

A diet for high cholesterol in women is based on eating foods low in animal fats.

To create a daily diet, it is necessary to study the cholesterol content in foods, taking into account that its daily intake should not exceed 400 mg. The following table will help you calculate your daily intake:

1. It is recommended to limit the consumption of meat products to one hundred grams per day. A diet for high cholesterol should contain only lean meat and fish.
2. When cooking, avoid frying, especially using oil. Animal oil must be replaced with vegetable oil: for example, butter - olive, sunflower or flaxseed.
3. A menu consisting of foods rich in fiber will help reduce cholesterol. Every day you need to eat raw vegetables, herbs, grains and fruits.
4. A unique substance - pectin binds bad cholesterol. Pectin is found mainly in red vegetables and fruits: watermelon, carrots, pumpkin, citrus fruits.

What foods will help the body cope with excess cholesterol?

You should not immediately give up all foods that are high in fat. The female body needs some fats, for example:

• red fatty fish (salmon): contains omega 3 acids;
• vegetable oils (linseed, olive): vitamin E;
• nuts: styrene, selenium.

High cholesterol levels are not a separate disease, but a systemic symptom, which is a kind of marker of problems in the body, most often of a chronic nature. The process of recovery and prevention of the development of complications in any patient directly depends on the accurate determination of the true cause of changes in this level, the correctly chosen treatment and the development of an individual nutrition plan.

The list of basic reasons for the increase usually includes:

1. Disbetalipoproteinemia, combined hyperlipidemia, polygenic hypercholesterolemia, other diseases of hereditary nature.
2. Nephroptosis, chronic renal failure and other kidney diseases.
3. Diabetes mellitus.
4. Hypertension of wide etymology.
5. Hepatitis of all forms, cirrhosis, jaundice and other liver diseases.
6. Pancreatitis in any form, pancreatic tumors.
7. Acute deficiency of somatotropin in the body.
8. Broad spectrum hypothyroidism.
9. Pathologies of pregnancy.
10. Overweight and obesity.
11. Any chronic age-related diseases.
12. Alcohol and tobacco abuse.
13. Taking diuretics, steroids, some oral contraceptives, and other narrow-spectrum medications.

Only a comprehensive diagnosis will help determine the exact cause of elevated LDL levels in the blood.

It is well known that high LDL levels are a major factor in the rapid development of atherosclerosis. The main principle of the diet in this case is the exclusion from the regular menu of all products that increase this level. Being one of the elements of metabolic processes in the body, cholesterol is also produced independently - as studies show, up to 70 percent of the total volume of the substance circulating in the blood is synthesized by organs and tissues - this is the so-called healthy cholesterol, necessary for the implementation of a number of important system-forming substances. metabolic processes. However, the remaining 30 percent may be the excess amount that later settles on the walls of the vascular system and clogs them.

Healthy people are recommended to consume up to 250 milligrams of cholesterol per day. A diet aimed at actively reducing the level of this organic compound involves limiting consumption to 100–150 mg with an emphasis on polyunsaturated fats.

Foods that increase blood cholesterol

A number of products contain a very large amount of cholesterol and should be avoided or significantly limited in portions.

1. Fatty meat - pork/beef, especially brisket, neck, ribs and other elements where there is a lot of fat.
2. Pork fillet.
3. Most offal, in particular brains, lungs, liver.
4. Processed types of meat products - smoked meats, canned food, smoked sausages, frankfurters, boiled sausages.
5. Fatty white meats, particularly duck and goose.
6. Chicken eggs in large quantities.
7. Yogurts, cheeses, sour cream, high-fat butter, and especially margarine of any kind.
8. Desserts, fast food, industrial baked goods, all semi-finished products.

1. Fatty fish. Almost all fish, and especially its fatty varieties, are very rich in polyunsaturated acids, which are extremely beneficial for the body. In addition, they contain fluorine and phosphorus, potassium, selenium and other trace elements.
2. Nuts. All types of nuts reduce the level of bad cholesterol in the blood by 5-10 percent.
3. Garlic. This product has a pronounced anti-cholesterol effect, thanks to alliin - in the body this acute specific substance is transformed into allicin, which cleanses all groups of blood vessels from cholesterol plaques.
4. Tomatoes. A true bad cholesterol antagonist contains lycopene, a red active pigment that breaks down the above-mentioned organic compound.
5. Carrot. The healthy vegetable helps prevent a number of ailments and reduces bad cholesterol levels by 15-20 percent when consumed regularly.
6. Apples. Apple pectin adsorbs bad cholesterol in the intestines.
7. Soy products. Soy-based products transform low-density “bad” cholesterol into high-density “good” cholesterol.
8. Wheat bran, apples, all vegetables, citrus fruits, beans - whole grain foods, soluble fiber and fiber-rich foods should be the basis of the diet in this case.
9. Dietary olive oil is an excellent replacement for animal fats and refined sunflower analogues.
10. Low-fat dairy products - there is no “bad” cholesterol, there are a lot of substances necessary for the body.
11. Lean meats, all plant products.

We offer a universal weekly diet suitable for women and men with high cholesterol levels.

Day 1

1. Breakfast 1 - 250 gr. orange juice (fresh) and two cheesecakes.
2. Breakfast 2 - a bowl of vegetable salad.
3. Lunch - 3-4 small stuffed peppers (rice/lean chicken).
4. Afternoon snack - a few apples, two slices of black whole grain bread with 30 grams of low-fat cheese.
5. Dinner - low-fat borscht without meat, 1 tbsp. spoon of 10 percent sour cream.

Day 2

1. Breakfast 1 - a bowl of vegetable salad.
2. Breakfast 2 - large grapefruit.
3. Lunch - a bowl of steamed rice, 170 grams of boiled chicken breast.
4. Afternoon snack - 200 grams of low-fat cottage cheese.
5. Dinner - 200 gr. low-fat cottage cheese casserole.

Day 3

1. Breakfast 1 - two-egg omelette.
2. Breakfast 2 - 2 slices of black bread with jam, two hundred grams of vegetable salad.
3. Lunch - a plate of vegetable soup, a plate of salad from similar products with 50 grams of feta cheese.
4. Afternoon snack - muesli with low-fat yogurt.
5. Dinner - 100 grams of boiled fish.

Day 4

1. Breakfast 1 - a bowl of wheat-pumpkin porridge.
2. Breakfast 2 - a glass of low-fat yogurt.
3. Lunch - a plate of pilaf with chicken breast and steamed vegetables, 100 grams of vegetable salad.
4. Afternoon snack - two bananas.
5. Dinner - a plate of baked vegetables.

Day 5

1. Breakfast: 1-1/2 plates of low-fat cottage cheese with one tablespoon of 10 percent sour cream, a glass of orange juice (fresh).
2. Breakfast 2 - one medium-sized persimmon.
3. Lunch - a plate of vegetable soup, 100 grams of feta cheese, 120 grams of lean beef stew.
4. Afternoon snack - a plate of vegetable salad, 1 boiled egg.
5. Dinner - a plate of durum wheat pasta, 100 grams of boiled chicken and low-fat cheese.

Day 6

1. Breakfast 1 - a glass of fresh pineapple juice.
2. Breakfast 2 - a bowl of vegetable salad.
3. Lunch - a bowl of beans, 100 grams of chicken, two fresh tomatoes.
4. Afternoon snack - a glass of kefir, 2 slices of black whole grain bread.
5. Dinner - 150 grams of stewed fish.

Day 7

1. Breakfast 1 - a bowl of low-fat cottage cheese, a glass of apple juice (fresh).
2. Breakfast 2 - a glass of walnuts.
3. Lunch - a bowl of wheat porridge, 200 grams of stewed lean meat.
4. Afternoon snack - a bowl of carrot and apple salad.
5. Dinner - dietary cottage cheese casserole (two hundred grams).

Useful video

Healthy and unhealthy foods - School of Dr. Komarovsky

A diet for high cholesterol (hypocholesterol, hypolipidemic diet) aims to normalize and prevent the appearance of and. With existing structural changes in blood vessels, nutrition helps to stop the pathology, reduces the risk of dangerous complications and prolongs life. If changes are limited to blood test results, and internal organs and vessel walls are not affected, then the diet will have a preventive value.

Most of us have heard about cholesterol and its dangers to the body. In the media, print publications, and the Internet, the topic of diet for atherosclerosis and pathology of lipid metabolism is perhaps the most discussed. There are known lists of foods that should not be eaten, as well as those that reduce cholesterol, but still the issue of rational nutrition for lipid metabolism disorders continues to be discussed.

A diet, despite its apparent simplicity, can work wonders. In the initial stages of hyperlipidemia, when apart from abnormalities in tests no other changes are detected, to normalize health it is enough to put your diet in order, and it is good if this happens with the participation of a competent specialist. Proper nutrition allows you to lose weight and delay the development of atherosclerosis.

It has become almost a tradition to consider cholesterol as something dangerous that must be gotten rid of, because, according to many, the risk of atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke is directly related to its amount. In an effort to reduce cholesterol, a person refuses even a minimum of those foods that contain this substance, which is not entirely true.

Cholesterol is an important component of cell membranes and steroid hormones, but the body synthesizes only about 75-80% of its required volume, the rest must come from food. In this regard, it is unacceptable and pointless to completely abandon all foods containing cholesterol, and the main task of dietary nutrition is moderate its consumption to a safe amount and bring blood counts back to normal.

As ideas about heart and vascular diseases developed, approaches to nutrition also changed. Many myths, for example, regarding eggs or butter, still exist today, but modern science easily dispels them, and the available diet for hypercholesterolemia is becoming wider, more varied and tastier.

Diet rules for high cholesterol

The basic rule of any “correct” diet is balance. The diet should contain all food groups necessary for proper metabolism - cereals, meat, vegetables and fruits, milk and its derivatives. Any “one-sided” diet cannot be considered useful and does more harm than good.

When a person completely refuses meat, dairy dishes or, following newfangled recommendations, eats only cabbage and apples, depriving himself of cereals, grains, animal protein and any type of oil, he not only does not achieve the desired result in reducing cholesterol, but also contributes even more to worsening metabolic disorders.

The lipid-lowering diet is no exception. It also implies the presence of all necessary components in the diet, but their quantity, combination and method of preparation have a number of features.

Basic approaches to a lipid-lowering diet:

• With high cholesterol, it makes sense to bring the caloric content of food in line with energy expenditure, which is especially important for overweight people. (The energy value of food should not exceed the “consumption” of calories. And if you need to lose weight, a moderate calorie deficit is created);
• The proportion of animal fat is reduced in favor of vegetable oils;
• The volume of vegetables and fruits consumed is increasing.

A diet to lower blood cholesterol levels is indicated for persons with an abnormal lipid profile without clinically significant vascular pathology as a measure to prevent vascular lesions. It must be observed by those who have been diagnosed with atherosclerosis of the aorta and other large vessels, cardiac ischemia, and encephalopathy as part of the treatment of these diseases.

Excess weight, arterial hypertension, and diabetes mellitus are very often accompanied by an increase in cholesterol and its atherogenic fractions, so patients with such diseases need to carefully monitor changes in biochemical parameters and follow a diet as a preventive or therapeutic measure.

A few words need to be said about cholesterol itself. It is known that in the body it is present in the form, some of which have an atherogenic effect (LDL - low-density lipoproteins), that is, such cholesterol is considered “bad”, the other part is, on the contrary, “good” (HDL), prevents the deposition of fatty conglomerates on walls of blood vessels.

LDL – forms plaques on the walls of blood vessels, HDL – “carries away” excess fat fractions

When talking about high cholesterol, they often mean its total amount, however, it would be wrong to judge pathology only by this indicator. If the total cholesterol level is increased due to the “good” fractions, while low and very low density lipoproteins are within normal values, there is no need to talk about pathology.

The opposite situation, when they are enlarged and, accordingly, general, is an alarming sign. It is this increase in cholesterol that will be discussed below. An increase in the total amount of cholesterol due to low and very low density lipoproteins requires not only a lipid-lowering diet, but also, possibly, drug correction.

In men, changes in the lipid spectrum are observed earlier than in women, which is associated with hormonal characteristics. Women later develop atherosclerosis due to the sex hormones estrogen, and therefore the need to change their diet arises at an older age.

What should you avoid if you have hypercholesterolemia?

If you have excessive “bad” cholesterol, it is highly not recommended to consume:

• Fatty meat, offal, especially fried, grilled;
• Steep meat broths;
• Bakery and confectionery products, sweets, baked goods;
• Fish caviar, shrimp;
• Carbonated drinks, strong alcohol;
• Sausages, smoked meats, frankfurters, canned meat and fish products;
• Fatty dairy products, hard fatty cheeses, ice cream;
• Margarine, lard, spreads;
• Fast food – hamburgers, French fries, fast food, crackers and chips, etc.

The specified list of products is impressive; it may seem to some that there is nothing special to eat given such restrictions. However, this is fundamentally wrong: food with high cholesterol can be not only healthy, but also nourishing, tasty, and varied.

In addition to eliminating “dangerous” foods, overweight people need to moderate their appetite and reduce the number of calories they consume. If the desire to snack persists throughout the day and especially at night, then it is better to replace the usual sausage sandwich or bun with cabbage salad with vinegar, olive oil or low-fat sour cream, low-fat cottage cheese, and fruit. By gradually reducing the volume and calorie content of food, a person not only reduces cholesterol, but also normalizes weight.

Eggs are still considered by many to be “dangerous” products in relation to atherosclerosis due to their high cholesterol content. By the 70s of the last century, the scale of egg rejection reached its maximum, but subsequent studies showed that the cholesterol contained in them can not be considered either good or bad, and its negative effect on metabolism is doubtful.

In addition to cholesterol, eggs contain the beneficial substance lecithin, which, on the contrary, reduces the concentration of “bad” cholesterol in the body. The atherogenic effect of eggs depends on the way they are prepared: fried eggs, especially with lard, sausage, or pork fat, can harm fat metabolism, but hard-boiled eggs can be consumed.

It is still advisable to avoid a large number of egg yolks for those people who have a clear hereditary predisposition to the pathology of lipid metabolism, an unfavorable family history of atherosclerosis and cardiac pathology. These restrictions do not apply to everyone else.

Alcohol is one of the controversial components of the eating habits of most people. It has been proven that strong alcoholic drinks and beer can worsen fat metabolism and increase blood cholesterol, while small amounts of cognac or wine, on the contrary, normalize metabolism due to a large number of antioxidants.

When drinking alcohol to lower cholesterol, we must not forget that the quantities should be very moderate (up to 200 g of wine per week and up to 40 g of cognac), the quality of the drink should not be in doubt, and simultaneous use with lipid-lowering drugs is contraindicated.

What can you eat?

1. Lean meats - turkey, rabbit, chicken, veal;
2. Fish - hake, pollock, pink salmon, herring, tuna;
3. Vegetable oil – olive, flaxseed, sunflower;
4. Cereals, porridge, bran;
5. Rye bread;
6. Vegetables and fruits;
7. Milk, cottage cheese, low-fat or low-fat kefir.

Those who follow a lipid-lowering diet boil or steam meat and fish, stew vegetables, and cook porridge in water with a small amount of oil. Whole milk should not be consumed, nor should full-fat sour cream. Cottage cheese with a fat content of 1-3%, kefir 1.5% or low-fat is both possible and healthy.

So, with the list of food products everything is more or less clear. It is highly advisable to exclude frying and grilling as a method of cooking. It is much healthier to consume boiled, stewed, or steamed foods. The maximum energy value of the daily diet is about 2500 calories.

Diet principles:

• Fragmentation - up to five times a day, so that the intervals between meals are small, eliminating the appearance of a strong feeling of hunger;
• Salt limit: no more than 5 g per day;
• The volume of liquid is up to one and a half liters (in the absence of contraindications from the kidneys);
• Evening meal - about 6-7 hours, no later;
• Acceptable methods of cooking are stewing, boiling, steaming, baking.

Examples of menus in accordance with a lipid-lowering diet

It is clear that there is no universal and ideal diet. We are all different, so nutrition for people of different genders, weights, and with different pathologies will have its own characteristics. To be highly effective, the diet must be prescribed by a specialist nutritionist or endocrinologist, taking into account individual metabolic characteristics and the presence of a specific pathology.

It is important not only the presence of certain products on the menu, but also their combination. So, it is better to cook porridge for breakfast, and combine meat with vegetables, and not with cereals, for lunch - traditionally, you should eat the first course. Below is a sample menu for a week that can be followed by most people with lipid disorders.

First day:

• breakfast – buckwheat porridge (about two hundred grams), tea or coffee, possibly with milk;
• II breakfast – a glass of juice, salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage);
• lunch - soup with light vegetable or meat broth, steamed chicken cutlets with stewed vegetables, berry juice, a slice of bran bread;
• dinner – steamed lean fish fillet, rice, tea without sugar, fruit.
• Before going to bed, you can drink low-fat kefir, fermented baked milk, and yogurt.

Second:

• breakfast - 2 egg omelet, fresh cabbage salad with butter (sea cabbage is also useful);
• II breakfast – juice or apple, pear;
• lunch – vegetable soup with a slice of rye bread, boiled beef with steamed vegetables, berry juice;
• dinner - fish soufflé with mashed potatoes, grated beets with butter, tea.

Third:

• for breakfast - oatmeal or cereal flakes brewed in low-fat milk, tea, or maybe with honey;
• II breakfast – low-fat cottage cheese with jam or preserves, fruit juice;
• lunch - fresh cabbage soup, bran bread, stewed potatoes with veal, dried fruit compote;
• dinner - grated carrots with sunflower oil, cottage cheese casserole with prunes, tea without sugar.

Fourth day:

• breakfast – millet porridge with pumpkin, weak coffee;
• II breakfast – low-fat fruit yogurt, fruit juice;
• lunch - beetroot soup with a spoonful of low-fat sour cream, bran bread, stewed fish with rice, dried apple compote;
• dinner - durum wheat pasta, fresh cabbage salad, low-fat kefir.

Fifth day:

• breakfast - muesli topped with natural yoghurt;
• second breakfast – fruit juice, dry biscuits (crackers);
• lunch - soup with veal meatballs, bread, stewed cabbage with goulash from the idea, dried fruit compote;
• dinner – pumpkin porridge, kefir.

In the absence of serious damage to the kidneys, liver, or intestines, periodic fasting days are allowed. For example, apple day (up to a kilogram of apples per day, cottage cheese, a little boiled meat for lunch), cottage cheese day (up to 500 g of fresh cottage cheese, casserole or cheesecakes, kefir, fruit).

The menu listed is indicative. In women, such a diet is less likely to cause psychological discomfort, because the fair sex is more prone to all kinds of diets and restrictions. Men are concerned about the overall calorie content and the inevitable feeling of hunger due to the lack of energy-intensive foods. There is no need to despair: it is quite possible to provide a daily supply of energy with lean meat, cereals, and vegetable oils.

Types of meat that patients with hypercholesterolemia can eat– beef, rabbit, veal, turkey, chicken, prepared in the form of steam cutlets, goulash, soufflé, boiled or stewed.

The choice of vegetables is practically unlimited. This can be cabbage, zucchini, beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, pumpkin, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. Vegetables can be stewed, steamed or fresh as salads. Tomatoes are useful for heart pathologies and have an anti-cancer effect due to the large amount of antioxidants and lycopene.

Fruits and berries are welcome. Apples, pears, citrus fruits, cherries, blueberries, cranberries will be useful for everyone. Bananas are good, but they are not recommended for patients with diabetes due to their high sugar content, but for patients with coronary heart disease and metabolic changes in the myocardium, bananas will be very useful, as they contain many trace elements (magnesium and potassium).

Cereals can be very diverse: buckwheat, millet, oatmeal, corn and wheat groats, rice, lentils. Patients with carbohydrate metabolism disorders should not indulge in rice; semolina is contraindicated. Porridge is healthy for breakfast; you can cook it with water or low-fat milk with the addition of a small amount of butter; they provide a sufficient supply of energy for the first half of the day, normalize fat metabolism and facilitate digestion.

It is useful to add herbs, garlic, and onions to meat dishes, vegetables and salads, which contain antioxidants and vitamins, prevent the deposition of fat on the surface of the vascular walls, and improve appetite.

Sweets are a separate way of getting pleasure, especially for those with a sweet tooth, but you need to remember that easily accessible carbohydrates, confectionery, and fresh baked goods have a great impact on carbohydrate and fat metabolism. Excess carbohydrates also lead to atherosclerosis!

When there are changes in the lipid spectrum, it is recommended to exclude baked goods and baked goods, but it is quite possible to occasionally treat yourself to marshmallows, marshmallows, marmalade, and honey. Of course, one must observe moderation in everything and should not overindulge, then even a piece of marshmallow is unlikely to harm the body. On the other hand, sweets can be replaced with fruits - this is both tasty and healthy.

If you have hyperlipidemia, you need to drink a lot of fluids - up to one and a half liters per day. If there is a concomitant kidney pathology, then you should not get carried away with drinking. Drinking tea and even weak coffee is not prohibited; compotes, fruit drinks, and juices are useful. If carbohydrate metabolism is not impaired, then sugar can be added to drinks in reasonable quantities; diabetics should avoid sugar in favor of fructose or sweeteners.

Your doctor will assess the need to lower your cholesterol levels. In order to maintain the health and cleanliness of blood vessels, an integrated approach is used:

• weight regulation based on BMI (body mass index);
• getting rid of bad habits (alcohol abuse, smoking);
• maintaining physical fitness;
• diet for high cholesterol;
• if necessary, use therapy through medications.

An equally important condition will be to reduce the total amount of fat consumed, avoid fats of animal origin (butter, lard, etc.), and consume only vegetable fats (flaxseed, hemp, olive, etc.).

Allowed dishes and products for high cholesterol:

• flour - bakery products made only from coarse varieties of wheat (pasta, dietary cookies);
• cereal - porridge made from wheat, buckwheat or oatmeal, cooked in water (can be used with skim milk);
• meat – lean fish without skin is preferable; lean meat (lamb, veal, beef) can be boiled or baked;
• dairy and fermented milk products - only low-fat or 1-1.5% fat;
• berries and fruits - fresh (freshly squeezed juice), canned;
• eggs – up to 4 per day or protein without restrictions;
• seafood;
• vegetables - cabbage (broccoli, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, etc.), cucumbers, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, beets, potatoes, greens;
• tea - preferably green, herbal (chamomile, linden, oregano and St. John's wort, it's good to drink rosehip decoction), you can use weak black tea;
• dry red wine is allowed.

Prohibited foods for high cholesterol:

• strong brewed tea, chocolate-based drinks, coffee, cocoa;
• sweet pastries, cakes, chocolate;
• meat with a fatty layer, fatty fish and poultry, lard, caviar, kidneys, liver are also not recommended;
• smoked products, salted fish, spicy;
• products from soft wheat varieties;
• semolina cooked in milk;
• sugar dried fruits;
• radish, radish;
• sorrel, spinach.

It is advisable to divide your daily diet into five to six meals. Sample diet for high cholesterol menu:

• first meal:
  • buckwheat/oatmeal with olive or other oil and tea;
  • meat omelet (or with the addition of low-fat sour cream) and tea (with low-fat cream/milk).
• second meal:
  • vegetables with herbs, sprinkled with olive oil (it is useful to eat kelp);
  • apple;
  • low-fat cottage cheese (add a little sugar if desired).
• lunch options:
  • vegetarian soup made from vegetables, pearl barley and vegetable oil added at the end of cooking, steamed vegetables or steamed cutlets (from lean meat/fish) with compote;
  • steamed fish or meat, cereal soup without frying, compote or fresh apple.
• afternoon tea options:
  • rosehip decoction (250ml);
  • soy or bran bread.
• dinner options:
  • fresh vegetable salad with herbs and vegetable oil (olive, flaxseed, etc.), baked or stewed fish, tea with milk;
  • boiled/baked potatoes with vegetable salad, tea;
  • stewed cabbage with steamed fish, pilaf with dried fruits, fresh fruit, crackers, tea.
• before bed:
• kefir/yogurt (250ml).

When choosing cereals, you should buy unprocessed grains (brown rice, oats, buckwheat). Bread products preferably wholemeal flour (a couple of slices of bread or a bun), and salt - up to 6 g.

Diet for high cholesterol: recipes for every day

The very word diet for many sounds like a punishment or an impossible asceticism. However, there is nothing wrong with a healthy and proper diet; on the contrary, a diet with high cholesterol will help you taste foods in a new way and discover unknown “notes” of interesting dishes. The main rule is to get creative, mix in a juicer, create in a double boiler.

Baked vegetables are also useful, for example pumpkin, which is prepared as follows: cut into thin slices, add sour cream, sprinkle with cheese, and put a piece of apple on top and bake until done. In the fight against high cholesterol, apples are indispensable, eaten on their own or as an ingredient in salad. It is possible to maintain capillaries and blood vessels elastic thanks to blueberries. Good berries include unripe gooseberries and currants.

Diet for high cholesterol, alternative medicine recipes that reduce the amount of cholesterol in the body:

• freshly squeezed vegetable juices - carrots (100 grams) and celery (70 grams) or half a glass of carrot juice with a quarter of cucumber and beet juice;
• a tablespoon of honey with black radish (50 grams) - this mixture is consumed at bedtime, washed down with water, after which you cannot eat;
• grate horseradish root, mix with a glass of low-fat sour cream. Take with meals 3-4 times a day together with boiled carrots.

Diet table for high cholesterol

In order to reduce cholesterol levels, it is important to understand which foods are advisable to consume, which should be minimized, and which are completely prohibited. The success of treatment and further well-being depend on this. The list of food products should be adjusted based on the individual characteristics of the patient: allergic reactions and taste preferences.

Allowed	Forbidden	Possible in moderation
Meat/Poultry
veal, rabbit, chicken, skinless turkey	pork, goose, duck, pate, sausages and canned food	lean lamb, beef, ham, liver
Fish/Seafood
lean sea (steamed, baked, stewed), oysters, scallop	fatty, fried, river fish, shrimp, squid	crabs, mussels, lobsters
Fats
any vegetable (olive, flaxseed, corn, etc.) in raw form	animal fats, margarine, butter, lard/lard	add vegetable oil to stewed and baked dishes
Eggs
protein (preferably quail)	fried eggs	whole egg
First courses
vegetable soup	fried dishes and meat broth	fish soup
Dairy products
low-fat cottage cheese, cheese, yogurt, milk, kefir, etc.	fatty dairy products and cheeses, as well as milk	foods with medium fat content
Cereals
bread and pasta made from durum wheat/wholemeal flour,	white bread and baked goods, soft wheat pasta	bakery products made from fine flour
Desserts
unsweetened juice or fruit drink, fruit desserts	cakes, pastries (especially those with rich buttercream), all kinds of pastries, ice cream	baked goods and other confectionery products based on vegetable oils
Vegetables/Fruits
fresh, steamed, legumes, greens, potatoes cooked in their jackets	fried, fries, grilled, chips	stewed, baked
Nuts
walnuts, almonds	salted, fried, coconut	hazelnuts, pistachios
Drinks
white, green, herbal tea, water (all non-sweet)	coffee, hot chocolate, cocoa	alcohol (no more than a glass of wine), low-fat milk or cream as an additive to tea
Spices/Condiments
yogurt, lemon, pepper, vinegar, mustard	sour cream, heavy cream and mayonnaise	ketchup, low-fat mayonnaise, soy sauce

Sample diet for high cholesterol

The daily daily norm of cholesterol is: in healthy people - no more than 300 mg, and in case of cardiovascular pathology and hypercholesterolemia - up to 200 mg.

An approximate diet for high cholesterol is based on compliance with ten rules:

1. choose lean fish or poultry. If you cook beef, lamb or veal, then cut off the fat layer from the pieces. Avoid processed foods (sausages, bacon, etc.) and offal (brains, kidneys, etc.);
2. reduce your overall fat intake by a third (forget about animal fats);
3. do not use palm oil (use sunflower, olive, soybean, flaxseed, etc., preferably cold-pressed);
4. do not be tempted by cakes, pastries, pastries, desserts with heavy cream, ice cream, as they are rich in carbohydrates and fats;
5. In eggs, only proteins that can be eaten without restrictions will be useful. Whole eggs are allowed in quantities of no more than three per week;
6. dairy and fermented milk products should have no more than 2% fat content. It is preferable to drink low-fat yoghurts and eat low-fat cheeses;
7. Caution should be exercised with complex carbohydrates, the quantitative content of which in the daily diet takes up half of the total volume of food - cook porridge in water (you can use low-fat milk). Corn and oat flakes are indicated only in the morning. Peas, beans, soybeans and other legumes are rich in vegetable protein, so they are an excellent substitute for meat dishes. Bakery products should also not be overused (up to 5-6 slices per day);
8. “lean” on fresh vegetables and fruits. Apples, grapefruits, oranges, pineapples, melon, plums, kiwis are great for lowering cholesterol. You can eat canned fruits, frozen vegetables, unsweetened dried fruits;
9. a diet for high cholesterol that excludes coffee helps reduce its level by almost 20%;
10. dry red wines are famous for their protective properties against blood vessels (they contain flavonoids that have antioxidant properties). The daily norm is half a glass, unless there are medical contraindications.

Before starting treatment, you should take a test to determine your blood cholesterol level, establish your body mass index, and consult a specialist who will help you create a daily diet based on your individual characteristics and physical shape.

The recommended diet for high cholesterol is also useful as a preventive measure and is relevant for vascular diseases, heart disease, and the problem of excess weight. The diet is based on plant dietary fiber, vitamin C, A, B, L-carnitine and E, phytosterols and other antioxidants.

Nutritionists advise paying attention not only to what you eat, but also how you do it. Eat meals in portions with a minimum interval of two hours. Divide the entire amount of food into five to six meals per day. During the diet, herbal decoctions are indispensable. The following are suitable for this: rose hips, horsetail, corn silk, buckthorn, hawthorn, motherwort, mint, etc.

A diet for high cholesterol may look like this:

• in the morning – low-fat cottage cheese or fresh vegetable salad with seaweed, tea;
• after a couple of hours - fruit salad or fresh fruit (grapefruit, apple);
• in the afternoon – vegetarian soup, potatoes (boiled in their skins) and/or boiled meat, compote/juice;
• for an afternoon snack, rosehip infusion is ideal;
• in the evening - stewed vegetables, steamed fish and tea;
• before bed – a glass of low-fat kefir.

If a person has high cholesterol in his blood, he has a high risk of developing heart and vascular diseases, which arise due to the formation of cholesterol plaques on the vascular endothelium. Such patients are advised to adjust their diet to lower cholesterol, lower their body mass index, and begin to exercise regularly. Only a competent and comprehensive approach to the problem will allow you to avoid drug treatment and prevent dangerous health consequences.

General principles of nutrition

Hypercholesterolemia does not imply a lifelong transition to a strict diet; on the contrary, nutrition with high cholesterol is quite varied and many foods are allowed. It is rather a transition to correct eating habits, which are recommended by doctors of various profiles. To achieve a lasting reduction in blood cholesterol levels, you need to follow the following principles:

1. Eat small meals 5-6 times a day. The portion of food should be such that a person does not overeat.
2. Adhere to the optimal level of calories consumed per day for a specific gender and age. This recommendation is more about normalizing weight, which is important in the fight for normal cholesterol.
3. Refuse semi-finished products, ready-made meat products, sausages, sausages.
4. Stop buying cookies and desserts. It is better to bake them yourself from approved products.
5. It is necessary to reduce fat consumption by a third, while vegetable fat should be completely abandoned and replaced with vegetable oils - olive, flaxseed, corn, sesame. Vegetable oils are mostly used for dressing salads and other dishes, and fried foods will have to be completely abandoned, as they can be very strong.
6. When buying dairy products, you need to buy only low-fat varieties.
7. You should definitely eat river and sea fish. Thus, sea fish contains a large amount of polyunsaturated fats, which help cleanse blood vessels of atherosclerotic plaques. You need to eat at least 3 servings of fish dishes per week.
8. Replace pork in your diet with lean varieties of meat - beef, lamb, rabbit. Cook meat dishes no more than 3 times a week.
9. It is recommended to use chicken breast as meat - it is quite lean and rich in proteins.
10. If possible, it is recommended to include game in the diet: wild bird, venison. This meat contains a minimum of fat.
11. Love porridge. Due to their high content of coarse fibers, they absorb cholesterol and naturally remove it from the body.
12. An irreplaceable component of dietary nutrition is vegetables and fruits. should be 500 grams. They are best eaten fresh; some vegetables can be boiled or baked.
13. It's better to give up coffee altogether. If this is not possible, then you are allowed to drink 1 cup per day. Studies have confirmed that this drink can increase the production of atherogenic lipids by liver cells.
14. Avoid beer and strong alcohol. Sometimes you can drink 1 glass of dry red wine.

Such nutritional principles do not imply strict restrictions. On the contrary, the list of permitted products gives a lot of scope for culinary imagination, when you can prepare very tasty and satisfying dishes.

Proteins, fats and carbohydrates

For the body to function fully, a person must receive proteins, fats and carbohydrates from food, so people with high cholesterol in the blood should not completely give up fats.

Many of us are accustomed to getting proteins from meat, and more often from pork. But it is a source of large amounts of cholesterol. So what can you eat to eat fully and properly without compromising your health?

Squirrels

• sea ​​or river fish;
• shrimp;
• lean veal or beef;
• chicken breast;
• cleaned turkey meat;
• legumes: peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas.

These products are enough to prepare nutritious meals every day. For breakfast and dinner, you can sometimes eat low-fat cottage cheese, low-fat natural yogurt or kefir.

Carbohydrates

They should take up the majority of the diet. The following foods are beneficial for people with high cholesterol:

• berries, fruits, vegetables, melons;
• cereal porridge;
• bread made from rye, buckwheat or rice flour.

The benefit of such carbohydrates consists of their high dietary fiber content, which helps reduce “bad” cholesterol in the blood. They cleanse the intestines, absorbing fats that the body does not need, preventing them from being absorbed into the blood. In addition, the high content of vitamins and minerals helps normalize metabolism, including lipid metabolism.

Fats

They must be present in the diet of every person, even those with hypercholesterolemia. It is worth excluding saturated fats, which can only increase the level of atherogenic cholesterol. It is worth giving preference to vegetable fats:

• sunflower;
• olive;
• sesame;
• corn.

Even vegetable oils cannot be used for frying foods; it is better to season salads with them. In this form, they will help increase anti-atherogenic lipids, which are extremely important for maintaining lipid metabolism at an optimal level.

Fish

Fish oils, which are found in:

• herring;
• mackerel;
• tuna;
• salmon;
• trout;
• other seafood.

They contain some cholesterol, but all of it is neutralized by unsaturated fatty acids Omega 3, so sea fish should definitely be included in the diet of a person with high cholesterol.

What can you eat and what can you not?

At the initial stage of the transition to proper nutrition, it can be quite difficult to remember which foods you can eat and which ones are best to avoid or eat as rarely as possible. We offer a table listing such products. You can print it out and keep it handy in the kitchen for the first time to control your diet and cook using approved products.

Recommended for use		Give up completely	Recommended for use	Possible in minimal quantities	Give up completely
Fats			Dairy products
Any vegetable oils	Salo	Margarine, all animal fats, butter	Low-fat cottage cheese and; kefir, yogurt, milk and curdled milk up to 1% fat	Products with medium fat content	All fatty dairy products, including milk
Seafood/fish			Meat/poultry
Lean fish (preferably from cold seas), steamed, boiled or baked	Mussels, crabs	Fatty or fried fish, squid	Turkey or chicken without fat and skin, rabbit, veal	Lean beef, lamb	Pork, duck, goose, any semi-finished meat products, pate
First courses			Cereals
Vegetable soups	Fish soups	Soups with meat broth and fried	Pasta and bread made from durum wheat	Bread, rolls made from fine flour	Products from soft wheat varieties
Eggs			Nuts
Chicken or quail protein	Whole egg (maximum 2 times a week)	Fried eggs	Almonds, walnuts	Pistachios, hazelnuts	Coconut, roasted or salted nuts
Vegetables, fruits			Desserts
Greens, legumes, fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as steamed ones; jacket potatoes	Baked apples, baked vegetables	Fried vegetables, potato fast food	Desserts made from natural fruits, fruit drinks or juices with minimal added sugar	Baking, confectionery	Ice cream, pastries, cakes
Spices, seasonings			Drinks
Mustard	Soy sauce, ketchup	Mayonnaise and sour cream of any fat content	Herbal drinks, teas	Alcohol	Cocoa-containing drinks, coffee

If you mainly take the permitted foods from the table as the basis for your diet, you can normalize high cholesterol and keep its level at optimal levels.

How much cholesterol is in food?

If a person has high cholesterol in the blood, its daily intake from food should not exceed 200-250 mg, based on the stage of atherosclerotic processes in the body.

Your doctor will help you plan your diet correctly, but it is also worth knowing how much cholesterol is in foods that rank first in terms of its content.

100 grams of product	Cholesterol content in mg	100 grams of product	Cholesterol content in mg
Meat, including poultry		Fish/seafood
Pork	110	Shrimps	152
Beef	85	Carp	130
Chicken	75	Red salmon	141
Rabbit	90	Fish oil	485
Mutton	95	Squid	90
Goose	90	Chum salmon	214
Turkey	65	Horse mackerel	40
Duck	90	Cod	40
		Coho salmon	60
Eggs		By-products
1 chicken egg	245	Kidneys	1150
100 g chicken yolk	1230	Brain	2000
1 quail egg	85	Liver	450
Dairy products
Milk 2%	10	Hard cheese	100
Milk 3%	14,4	Adyghe cheese	70
Kefir 1%	3,2	Butter	180
Cream 20%	65	Cottage cheese 18%	60
Sour cream 30%	100	Cottage cheese 8%	32

If you want to eat such foods, you need to calculate their portions based on the cholesterol content per 100 g, so as not to exceed the daily fat requirement. If a patient with hypercholesterolemia continues to consume these foods in large quantities, this will further increase cholesterol levels and aggravate atherosclerotic changes in blood vessels.

What foods do not contain cholesterol?

To achieve a reduction in “bad” cholesterol in the blood and increase the level of anti-atherogenic lipids, you need to give preference to products that do not contain cholesterol at all or contain it in minimal quantities. However, it is worth considering that some of them, although devoid of “bad” cholesterol, are quite high in calories, so they should not be consumed without moderation, and some, such as nuts, are eaten in just a little bit.

Here is a list of foods and dishes that do not contain cholesterol:

• any plant products: vegetables, melons, berries, fruits;
• freshly squeezed juices. Although such store-bought products from bags do not contain cholesterol, they do contain sugar, which means extra calories;
• cereal porridges prepared without adding milk or butter;
• cereals and legumes;
• vegetable soups;
• vegetable oils, however, it is worth considering their high calorie content;
• nuts and seeds, but you should eat no more than 30 g of them per day.

If you mainly give preference to the listed products and dishes, you can increase “good” cholesterol in the blood and reduce “bad” cholesterol in a few months.

What foods lower blood cholesterol?

Over the past decades, many large-scale studies have been conducted in different countries that have proven that cholesterol and nutrition are closely related. By adhering to certain dietary principles, you can achieve a significant reduction in “bad” cholesterol in the blood.

But it is important not only to reduce the level of atherogenic lipoproteins, but also to increase the content of “good” cholesterol. To do this, you need to eat as much of the following foods as possible:

• Avocado is the fruit richest in phytosterols: 100 g contains 76 mg of beta-sitosterol. If you eat half of this fruit daily, then after 3 weeks, subject to the principles of proper nutrition, the reduction in total cholesterol will be at the level of 8-10%;
• Olive oil is also a source of plant sterols, which affect the ratio of “bad” and “good” cholesterol in the blood: when added daily to the diet, it can increase good cholesterol and reduce bad cholesterol, while total cholesterol levels will decrease by 15-18%;
• soy and bean products - their benefit lies in the content of soluble and insoluble fiber, which helps to naturally remove “bad” lipids from the body, preventing them from being absorbed into the blood. In this way, you can not only reduce the level of atherogenic lipids, but also increase the concentration of “good” cholesterol in the blood;
• Lingonberries, cranberries, chokeberries, garden and forest raspberries, pomegranate, strawberries: these berries contain a large amount of polyphenols, which can increase the production of antiatherogenic lipids in the blood. If you consume 150 g of these berries daily, then after 2 months you can increase “good” cholesterol by 5%; if you introduce a glass of cranberry juice into your diet every day, then anti-atherogenic lipids can be increased by 10% over the same period of time;
• kiwi, apples, currants, watermelons - all fruits and berries rich in antioxidants. They have a good effect on lipid metabolism in the body and can increase by about 7% if consumed daily for 2 months;
• flax seeds are a powerful natural statin that helps fight high cholesterol in the blood;
• mackerel, salmon, tuna, cod, trout: all fish that live in cold seas contain fish oil - the richest source of Omega-3 acids. If you eat about 200-250 g of fish daily, after 3 months you can reduce the level of low-density lipoproteins by about 20-25% and increase “good” cholesterol by 5-7%;
• whole grains and oatmeal - due to the abundance of coarse fiber, they absorb bad cholesterol like a sponge and remove it from the body;
• garlic - it is called one of the most powerful plant statins, which allows you to increase the synthesis of high-density lipoproteins in liver cells, while garlic also acts on “bad” cholesterol. It prevents it from settling on the walls of blood vessels in the form of atherosclerotic plaques;
• beekeeping products – pollen and beebread. They contain a large number of substances that are beneficial for the body, which not only have a positive effect on the functioning of the whole body, but also normalize metabolic processes and the level of lipids in the blood;
• all greens in any form are quite rich in lutein, carotenoids and dietary fiber, which together help normalize lipid metabolism in the body.

If you study in detail and adhere to the given rules and principles every day, you can significantly influence the total level of cholesterol in the blood, improve your health and improve your well-being.

But it is important not only to adhere to proper nutrition, but also to switch to a healthy lifestyle: quit smoking and alcohol, start playing sports (or at least do exercises in the morning), and observe a work-rest schedule. An integrated approach to the problem will help you eliminate it faster and consolidate the results achieved for life.