HDL cholesterol foods

Some foodstuffs are known to contain relatively high levels of HDL cholesterol. This article will help you realize which foods these are, what their benefits can be and what cholesterol is after all.

Not all cholesterol is bad

Although elevated levels of it can cause problems, cholesterol per se is not a harmful matter. What is more, it is needed in every organism. This type of sterol has different purposes in the body, and one of them is ensuring proper metabolic processes. We can distinguish between several different types of cholesterol – we have VLDL, IDL, LDL, and HDL. This article will be focusing on HDL.

Unlike LDL, which is considered a harmful type of cholesterol, HDL is the one we wish to have as much as possible in our blood. Why is that? While LDL has the tendency to pile up on the inside of blood vessels, HDL cleans blood of fats and thus helps prevent various coronary ailments. The right choice of food can turn out to be very beneficial for people who are suffering from elevated levels ofcholesterol.

Foodstuffs with more HDL

There are certain types of food that people suffering from high level of cholesterol should focus on. These foods, with high content of HDL, help remove LDL from the body and prevent its piling up and subsequent hazardous consequences. For example, intake of foods such as omega 3 fatty acids or foods rich in soluble fibers is an excellent choice. They will help you maintain your blood vessels clean or decrease the quantity of “bad” cholesterol in your blood.

One of the foodstuffs we have mentioned is omega 3 fatty acids. This substance can be found in, for instance, fish. Consuming fish a couple of times per week would be great, since all of us need omega 3 acids in our nutrition. These acids are enormously beneficial for anyone’s health owing to the fact that they work on reducing the chances of creation of blood clots. In people who have a previous medical history with coronary ailments, these fats will reduce the risk of heart attack. Bake or grill the fish, do not fry it.

Apart from fish, we have mentioned foods with high fiber content. Soluble fibers are enormously good for our health, since they act as purifiers of the blood. They remove LDL from the bloodstream, while at the same time raising the level of HDL. These fibers are to be found in foods such as apples, grapes, oranges, whole grain cereals (especially oat), rice and different types of nuts.