TOP 9 effective diets for high blood cholesterol

17 March 2022

The therapeutic diet for high blood cholesterol is the main link in the treatment of this disease. Think about how to avoid excess fat and cholesterol in your diet. We'll find out how to choose the right healthy diet for yourself for each day, and an approximate menu for a week when faced with hyperlipidemia.

20 basic rules of diet for high cholesterol

Elevated cholesterol levels can be the cause of coronary heart disease, thrombosis of the veins of the lower extremities, strokes and myocardial infarction. You can prevent the serious consequences of chronic hyperlipidemia by following the simple rules below.

Nutrition for hypercholesterolemia should be fractional. Try to eat 5-6 small meals a day. Thus, there is no increased appetite and the risk of overeating after a long fast.
Eat vegetables and fruits at all times and in large quantities. Fiber accelerates the elimination of excess cholesterol from the body.
With bad cholesterol, the diet should contain mainly foods with vegetable fats. Try using olive oil instead of butter when cooking.
Try not to eat lean meat more than a few times a week. With high cholesterol levels, recipes and menus with poultry, veal, rabbit and lamb are best suited.
Proper nutrition with high cholesterol is supported by exercise. For people with elevated low-density lipoprotein levels, bland walks of at least two miles per day are recommended.
Diet for hypercholesterolemia should consist mainly of stewed, baked and boiled foods. Frying should be avoided entirely.
If you have high cholesterol, avoid foods high in animal fats. No need to eat lard, pork, bacon, smoked meat. Replace these products with cooked poultry, fish and seafood.
Elevated salt content in food is contraindicated in hypertension and atherosclerotic diseases. Try not to eat more than 5 grams of salt per day. It is best to avoid this product completely.
It is necessary to drink at least two liters of water a day, especially with thick blood and increased bilirubin. An increased level of these indicators usually indicates a violation of the functions of the liver and gallbladder, which leads to hyperlipidemia. Increased blood viscosity provokes the fixation of blood clots to lipid deposits in the vessels. It is necessary to eat sour berries that can thin the blood, such as cherries and gooseberries.
Sweet pastries and high cholesterol are a bad combination. Milk chocolate should also be avoided. Sugar-free oatmeal cookies, dried fruit, nuts and honey are suitable as an alternative dessert. Sometimes you can treat yourself to oriental Turkish delight.
The daily calorie requirement for women and men is different - an average of 2200 kcal and 2600 kcal, respectively. Increased calorie intake is also necessary for people engaged in heavy physical labor. These factors are important when formulating a diet.
Be sure to avoid alcohol abuse. Red wine is allowed, but no more than two glasses per week.
Coffee is a controversial ally 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, as it helps strengthen the cardiovascular system. So you can drink coffee, but do not abuse it. An alternative is a chicory drink or green tea.
Cook porridge every day. Try not to overcook the granola and leave it crumbly. If you have high cholesterol, do not season the finished dish with a lot of butter. For example, honey and dried fruit are suitable flavors for oatmeal.
Hyperlipidemia precludes the use of fatty dairy products. Replace them with fat-free yogurt and kefir. Use low-fat yogurt and kefir as a substitute.
Products containing harmful trans fats, such as fast food, are strictly contraindicated. Avoid chips and other snacks.
When cooking poultry, remove the skin from the surface. Since it makes the dish more fatty and contains harmful components.
Semi-finished products and hypercholesterolemia are mutually exclusive. There are no useful vitamins and minerals in such products. Such foods do not bring enough energy, but only clog the body with fiber calories and fats.
Try not to overeat at night. Eat dinner no later than two hours before bedtime. To suppress your appetite before bed, it is better to drink a glass of kefir or eat a few dates and a handful of almonds.
Your doctor will tell you the best way to eat. After weighing all the risks and concomitant diseases, an experienced specialist will help to develop the most effective nutritional plan. Self-treatment of high cholesterol is not recommended.

Elevated cholesterol levels are a reversible process if you follow the recommendations above and have regular medical check-ups.

Popular diets to lower cholesterol in women and men

A cholesterol-lowering diet can be based on a combination of different foods. In order to significantly reduce blood cholesterol levels, it is important to follow the recommended diet for at least six months.

To understand the different types of diets that regulate high cholesterol, a comparative description of the most popular of them will help.

Mediterranean cuisine

The Mediterranean diet, which lowers cholesterol, is recommended for people suffering from atherosclerosis, hypertension and overweight. The basis of such a diet is an abundance of cheese, meat, fish and spices. Despite this, these products are perfectly combined and have a beneficial effect on high cholesterol. List of foods in the diet:

spices and herbs.
Soft cheeses like feta.
Olive oil.
Fish, mussels, shrimp.
bird, lamb.
Red wine in moderation.
Unleavened flatbread made from wheat flour (pitas).
Vegetables and fruits.
Greek yogurt.
Grain.

Fatty meat, lard, sausages, sweet drinks with gas are categorically excluded from the diet. As these products can cause high blood cholesterol levels. As an example, the following menu for high cholesterol calculated for a week is presented:

day 1

For breakfast: three pieces of lentil patties flavored with yoghurt.
For lunch, refresh yourself with creamy Brussels sprouts soup with shrimp; Fruit platter and salad with olives and tofu.
Dinner is pita stuffed with feta cubes and lettuce (cherry tomatoes, cucumber, a few olives).

day 2

A good way to start the day is cottage cheese and buckwheat zrazy.
Lunch snack - light soup with lentils, risotto with vegetables.
Baked salmon flavored with olive oil and herbs from Provence puts you in a good mood in the evening.

day 3

Morning meal - buckwheat boiled in vegetable broth.
For lunch, tuna baked with vegetables will regain strength; Tomato puree soup.
For dinner: salad with chicken breast and avocado flavored with olive oil, pita.

day 4

Breakfast: yogurt with chopped hazelnuts and almonds, you can add a little honey.
Light lunch: soup with fish meatballs, baked potatoes with tomatoes.
Dinner: Vegetable salad with an egg, lemon juice and olive oil.

day 5

Breakfast: oatmeal on the water, with honey and raisins.
Gives energy for lunch - soup puree from spinach leaves and asparagus with liquid cream; lightly cooked salmon with wild rice.
Dinner: Bake a cake with small cherry tomatoes and feta, on a whole wheat crust, optionally crumble tofu cubes.

day 6

Breakfast: dried fruit soufflé, green tea.
For lunch - cabbage soup, chicken stew with vegetables, a pita.
For dinner - zucchini with feta in the oven, pita with avocado and olive oil.

day 7

For breakfast: pour baked pumpkin with yogurt and honey.
Lunch: creamy soup of mushrooms and chanterelles; Chicken rubbed with garlic with peppers in the oven.
Dinner: Wild rice stew with mussels and prawns.

For snacks between main meals, you can use dates, prunes, raisins, almonds. Such a diet will help not only to put in order high cholesterol, but also to reduce body weight.

Diet chart number 10

The cooking method mainly consists of boiling and baking. Since high cholesterol precludes the use of fried foods. It is recommended to eat at least five meals a day in small portions. Evening snack no later than two hours before bedtime. Products that can be consumed:

Freshly squeezed vegetable juices, jelly.
whole wheat bread.
Fresh vegetable salads.
Eggs without yolk.
Fish: tuna, salmon, carp.
Fat-free cottage cheese, kefir and yogurt.
kashi

The following products must be refused: butter, fatty meats and especially red, salted and smoked fish delicacies, fatty cheeses, pickles, mustard. A sample menu for a week when you have high cholesterol might look like this:

Early breakfast: buckwheat boiled in 1% milk, soft-boiled egg, weak green tea with milk.
Snack before dinner: a piece of boiled chicken or a fresh apple.
Lunch: vegetable broth with barley groats, mushrooms and finely chopped zucchini, baked salmon or carp with braised vegetables (e. g. peppers, onions, zucchini), 1 glass of fresh apple juice.
Snack: Rosehip tea, nuts and dried fruits (e. g. plums and almonds).
Dinner: low-fat cottage cheese, boiled grated beets with apple, 1 glass of low-fat milk.
In the evening: 1 glass of fat-free kefir.

During the week you can combine different variations of dishes from vegetables, white poultry and fish. For snacks, use nuts, fruits like a banana or an apple. Nutritional table No. 10 is recommended not only for the prevention of the occurrence of atherosclerosis of the vessels, but also for hypothyroidism. With a regular diet for at least four months, high cholesterol levels can be significantly reduced.

Diet chart number 10A

This diet has a number of limitations:

Bread - maximum 145 g per day.
Vegetable broths - up to 180 ml.
The use of cheese, pearl barley and millet is excluded.
Do not eat extremely hot or cold foods.

Nutritional table number 10, which has a positive effect on high cholesterol, looks like this for each day:

Breakfast: chopped oatmeal with 1% milk, green tea, a small apple.
Snack: baked apples with cottage cheese.
Lunch: steamed chicken chops, mashed potatoes without oil, half a glass of fresh apple juice.
Afternoon snack: plums or dates.
Dinner: Oven-baked carrot and apple cutlets, half a glass of fat-free kefir.
Before bedtime: half a glass of rosehip tincture or chicory drink.

After the age of 50, more than 35% of people have high cholesterol. As a result, the risk of progression of atherosclerotic disease and the occurrence of myocardial infarction, stroke increases. It is therefore particularly important at this age to ensure proper nutrition in combination with light physical activity.

Nutrition table №10C

Table #10C is a therapeutic diet for lowering cholesterol levels. This type of diet is recommended for people with diagnosed coronary artery disease and hypertension provoked by atherosclerosis. This menu is dominated by vegetable fat, fiber, foods with a high content of vitamins B, PP, C. The daily calorie content of the menu is about 2570 kcal. It is necessary to eat partial portions in six doses per day.

Recommended foods that have a positive impact on high cholesterol include:

Bran.
sea kale.
Vegetables and fruits can be eaten in large portions.
Bake or boil eggs a little, no more than three per week.
Buckwheat, oatmeal, barley porridge.
Honey, a couple of spoons a day.
Spaghetti durum, try not to overcook.

Prohibited foods include the No. 10 food-like menu. The approximate daily diet is as follows:

Breakfast: boiled buckwheat without oil, light curd mass with seasonal fruits, tea.
Snack: baked apple or dried apricots.
Lunch: Braised carrots, steamed beetroot chops, rice soup with vegetables lightly fried in olive oil, seasonal fruit compote.
Afternoon snack: unsweetened berry smoothie or honey with a handful of hazelnuts.
Dinner: Salad of seasonal vegetables with olive oil and seaweed, salmon (another oily fish) baked with a slice of lemon and thyme, boiled potatoes, weak green tea.
Before bed: a glass of 1% kefir.

A healthy lifestyle is not just limited to diet. Since high cholesterol requires complex treatment. Do not forget about physical exercises, as well as long walks in the fresh air.

low-carbohydrate diet

Foods excluded from the low carb menu include:

Sweet pastries, white bread.
sugar and fructose, honey.
Alcohol and sugary drinks with gas.
Macaroni and Potatoes.
Milk chocolate.
Sweet fruits like grapes.

Animal proteins should be present in large quantities in the daily diet, for example fish, dairy products, lean meat. This is what a low-carb menu for a week could look like:

Monday

Egg white omelet with chopped mushrooms and tomato;
Creamy chicken and Brussels sprouts soup. Two whole grain breads;
Pear;
Braised veal with peppers.

Tuesday

Thin pancakes on kefir with cottage cheese, raisins.
salmon ear. Two slices of granola bread.
Green apple.
Braised chicken fillet with spinach.

the Wednesday

Cheesecake with low-fat sour cream.
Buckwheat on the water and baked chicken cutlet.
Orange.
Cold Chicken.

Thursday

Whipped cottage cheese.
Cheese soup with chicken breast. Two whole wheat toasts.
Half a grapefruit.
Unpolished Rice. Steamed zucchini and carrot cutlets, fresh cucumber.

Friday

A soft-boiled egg sprinkled with grated cheese.
Braised fish in a light creamy sauce.
kiwi or an orange.
Cooked beans, mashed. chicken roll. A tomato.
Before bedtime - a glass of kefir.

Saturday

cottage cheese and plain yogurt.
Steamed lamb meatballs and a pickle.
tangerine or apple.
Seafood. Arugula salad with olive oil.

Sunday

Steamed omelet with chicken breast.
Turkey fillet baked with broccoli.
A glass of 1% kefir.
Rabbit stewed with vegetables (onion, courgettes, peppers).

While on this diet, it is recommended to consume up to two liters of fluids per day. In women, a contraindication to a low-carbohydrate diet may be the period of breastfeeding and pregnancy. Elevated cholesterol levels can be successfully treated with corrective nutrition if detected in good time. Only the treating doctor can finally decide which diet you have to follow after a detailed analysis of your previous history.

paleo diet

The Paleo diet includes foods that our Stone Age ancestors ate before agriculture developed. A large amount of animal protein is the basis of the prehistoric diet. At the same time, carbohydrates and fats are used much less in the diet. The main product is meat, which contains animal protein. It accelerates metabolic processes and helps prevent excess fat accumulation.

The Paleo diet is good for lowering blood cholesterol levels by reducing the consumption of animal fats. It is recommended to eat about three meals a day every five hours. The main approved products are:

Meat and poultry without fat.
seafood, fish.
Oils: olive, flaxseed, sesame.
Mushrooms, nuts and seeds without heat treatment.
Fresh berries, vegetables and fruits.

Sugar and salt, legumes and cereals, dairy products, vegetables with starch (potatoes, sweet potatoes) are excluded from the diet on such a diet. It is recommended that food be consumed predominantly raw or after minimal heat treatment. This type of diet helps protect blood vessels from cholesterol and plaque build-up. Elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein can be brought back to normal if the principles of the Paleo diet are followed.

keto diet

The keto diet is based on minimal carbohydrate intake. The body trains to gain more energy from fats and proteins. This high cholesterol diet helps reduce low-density lipoproteins. At the same time, the level of "good" cholesterol increases.

Avoid bread, sugar, pasta, fruit, and sweets while on a ketogenic diet. With a lack of carbohydrates, the body begins to intensively break down fat reserves.

This diet is similar to a low carb diet. When choosing the optimal menu, you must follow the following rules:

Breakfast: Try to eat up to 15g of carbohydrates in the morning. The source can be cheese or vegetables. It is recommended to eat an omelet in olive oil with tomatoes and add toast with bran. Calorie content - 500-600 kcal.
At lunch you need to limit carbohydrates. Nutritionists recommend eating soup with chicken meatballs (without potatoes, pasta). Note that high cholesterol suggests consumption of vegetable broth. Second, you can eat brown rice with breast and a piece of cheese.
Dinner should contain an increased proportion of protein and fiber. Poultry or lamb, veal and green vegetables will do. It is better to bake meat and prepare a salad of vegetables with a spoonful of olive oil.

On a ketogenic diet, the body works in an "emergency" mode and is in a state of ketosis due to the production of ketone bodies (fatty acid derivatives). Therefore, medical supervision is required during such a diet. Despite the risk involved, a normalization occurselevated cholesterol over the course of the keto diet.

Some argue that the diet will do little to lower cholesterol and recommend taking statins. A very controversial statement. Many doctors and experts fundamentally disagree on this.

Ornish's vegetarian diet

The diet was first developed by Dean Ornish, Bill Clinton's personal physician. And it is based on strict control of the fats consumed. No more than 20 grams of fat are allowed per day. This diet is indicated when a person is diagnosed with hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis, obesity. The menu is basically vegetarian. This food is characterized by an increased proportion of carbohydrates in the food consumed.

It is necessary to combine Ornish nutrition with physical exercises and physical activity. The daily ratio of fats, proteins and carbohydrates is 10, 25, 75% respectively. Products recommended for use:

Vegetables, mostly green.
Lentils, beans, peas.
Apples and pears.
Buckwheat porridge made from corn, wheat and rice.

Eat eggs, dairy products, cheese, biscuits in moderation. Basically, it is necessary to exclude red meat, puff pastry and baked goods, butter, mayonnaise, olives, nuts, seeds.

A sample menu for the week can be assembled as follows.

The first day

Breakfast: chicory drink, a tablespoon of wheat bran with low-fat yoghurt.
Lunch: a few large potatoes baked with tomatoes, a salad of cucumbers, vegetables and iceberg lettuce, a green apple.
Snack: apricots or plums (3 pieces), other seasonal fruits, low-fat cottage cheese.
Dinner: two wholemeal toasts, an apple or pear, durum wheat spaghetti sprinkled with low-fat cheese, berry compote.

Second day

Breakfast: freshly squeezed orange juice, rice porridge with skim milk, a glass of kefir.
Lunch: beans with mushrooms and onions, salad with tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers dressed with olive oil.
Afternoon snack: strawberries, wheat bread.
Dinner: two slices of bran bread, half an avocado, buckwheat porridge stewed with mushrooms and carrots, green tea.

day three

Breakfast: Decaf coffee, a cup of granola with berries, and skim milk.
Lunch: soup with pumpkin slices and spinach, couscous with vegetables, vinaigrette without cucumbers.
Afternoon snack: a glass of kefir, low-fat biscuits.
Dinner: Baked eggplant halves with onions and carrots, a bowl of seasonal berries, mint tea.

day four

Breakfast: pomegranate juice, pumpkin and zucchini pancakes.
Lunch: Broccoli and cauliflower soup, asparagus braised with rice and chicken fillet.
Snack: low-fat cottage cheese with added yogurt, oatmeal cookies.
Dinner: braised white cabbage with carrots and onions, any fruit of your choice, currant compote.

day five

Breakfast: apple juice, porridge from a muesli mix.
Lunch: two fish chops, mashed potatoes without adding milk and with a small knob of butter.
Afternoon snack: a cup of low-fat kefir, a green apple.
Dinner: asparagus and pea soup, weak tea.

day six

Breakfast: chicory drink, fat-free cottage cheese with honey.
Lunch: cooked turkey breast with zucchini squash puree, orange juice.
Afternoon snack: porridge, multigrain bread.
Dinner: two cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and vegetables, mineral water.

day seven

Breakfast: a piece of cottage cheese casserole with raisins, chicory.
Lunch: 2 lentil and carrot cutlets, rice.
Snack: 3 baked cheesecakes, orange juice.
Dinner: apples stuffed with cottage cheese and dried apricots, chamomile tea.

High cholesterol can return to normal with strict observance of the rules of this diet. Regularity and self-control are very important to get results.

Intermittent fasting

Fasting is used to lower blood cholesterol levels. It is possible to treat elevated cholesterol with a diet containing elements of complete starvation in the following way: with a lack of food, the body begins to use low-density lipoprotein reserves to obtain energy for life. After just 12 hours of fasting, cholesterol is released into the blood as an alternative source of energy and broken down into energy.

Approximate scheme of cholesterol deficiency for a week:

On the first day - only freshly squeezed apple and carrot juice, diluted 1: 2 with water. On the second day, you can drink the juice without diluting it with water. For lunch you can eat 50 g of grated carrots. In the third - drink grape-apple and carrot juices. Eat with a hundred grams of vegetable puree, and before bedtime - kefir.

Add grated vegetables and fruits on the fourth and fifth day, and light cottage cheese at night. On the sixth and seventh days, breakfast should consist of grated vegetables and fruits, and eat overcooked buckwheat or millet muesli for lunch and dinner. Such a strict diet can only be carried out after consulting a doctor and under the supervision of a doctor. In order 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 - it is necessary to study in detail all the characteristics of a particular person's body. It is very important to take into account concomitant diseases, gender, age. Only a properly designed menu is an effective prevention against the severe consequences of hypercholesterolemia.