You might have heard about cholesterol before now and maybe you didn’t understand it. This write-up will mainly give you tips on how to prevent and manage high cholesterol in the body by suggesting diet plans you can adopt.

Before then, I’d want you to understand the concept of cholesterol and clear the misconceptions you might have about cholesterol.

What is cholesterol?

To begin with, cholesterol is a waxy fat-like substance so you are not totally wrong for calling it fat, but where you get it wrong is it’s not the only type of fat. It is produced naturally in the liver…

Oh you thought you could only get cholesterol from fatty foods? Definitely not, we’d get to that but let’s stick to the naturally produced cholesterol for now.

Cholesterol doesn’t dissolve in water just like your regular oil which you must have noticed and if not, you can practicalize today.

For this same reason, it’s unable to travel through the blood on its own. Hence, it needs another substance produced by the liver to aid transport and this substance is known as a lipoprotein. 

Lipoprotein as the name implies, are particles formed from “lipo” (lipid) and “protein”. They carry cholesterol and other types of lipids through your bloodstream as earlier mentioned. 

Good and bad cholesterol

They are the different forms of lipoproteins but the ones in charge of the transport of cholesterol are: 

• Low density lipoprotein (LDL)
• High density lipoprotein (HDL)

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is mostly termed bad cholesterol. Why is it so? This is because it carries cholesterol to your arteries and when this cholesterol is high, it builds up plaque in the walls of the arteries. This plaque can lead to narrowed arteries, limit blood flow, and then can generate into atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a serious health condition that can result in several life-threatening complications like: 

• Stroke
• High blood pressure
• Heart attack
• Chest pain
• Chronic kidney diseases
• Bile imbalance
• Peripheral vascular diseases

In case you always thought cholesterol is generally bad like I once did, that thought is wrong, but thankfully I’m here to shed more light on this. 😊

Cholesterol can also be good for the body. Your body requires some cholesterol to function properly. 

This good cholesterol is what is called high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. It helps return LDL cholesterol to your liver to remove it from the body thereby preventing atherosclerosis and its complications. 

Accumulation of LDL cholesterol isn’t the only risk factor for high cholesterol in the body but also obesity, lack of exercise, smoking especially tobacco, family history of high cholesterol, and some diseases (diabetes, kidney disease, etc). 

High cholesterol caused by most of these factors can be reversed except for those that are genetically gotten i.e family history of high cholesterol. All of these factors are not restricted by age, gender, or race.

Managing and preventing high cholesterol

I hope you now understand the concept of cholesterol and causes of high cholesterol.

Yes? Good.

Let’s move on.

The following foods should be limited to prevent high cholesterol in the body:

• Deep-fried foods
• Fast food and pre-packaged foods
• Sugary foods
• Red meat, organ meats
• Egg yolks
• High fat dairy products
• Food processed from cocoa, butter and palm oil
• Some baked foods like cookies.

Not to worry, I’ve got a diet replacement plan for you so you won’t have to miss out on some dishes and at the same time, remain healthy

• Instead of fried foods, you can broil, steam, grill, roast and bake your foods.
• Eat homemade meals instead of fast foods and take fresh foods instead of prepackaged foods
• Opt for lean sources of protein such as chicken, fish.
• Eat foods rich in fiber like whole grains
• Consume lots of fruits and vegetables
• Choose low fat dairy products e.g skimmed milk
• Opt for foods rich in Omega-3 (salmon, mackerel, walnuts, almonds and avocados)

High Cholesterol

High cholesterol is a silent condition and typically doesn’t cause any symptoms. Many are unaware they have it until it generates into a serious complication but this can be prevented by choosing these lifestyle choices:

• Following this diet replacement plan
• Avoiding excessive alcohol consumption
• Exercising
• Avoid smoking
• Maintaining a moderate weight by ensuring your body mass index (BMI) is healthy i.e 18.5-24.9. This can be ensured by regular check of your height and weight then calculating with this formula:

weight (kg)height (m)2

• Routine cholesterol screening in a clinic.

You’re responsible for your health, so endeavor to avoid foods that can cause preventable complications for you.

Like they say, health is wealth. You’ll have to stay healthy to enjoy that money.

 For suggestions and comments, don’t forget to use the comment section. 

Love and light.✌️

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Edited by: Oluwanifemi