Il cholesterol high, ie that exceeds 240 mg / dl, is a pathology that affects both men and women more and more indifferently. It is a fat molecule involved in many metabolic processes in our body, such as digestion, the production of Vitamin D, but above all it is essential for the construction of the cell wall, in particular of the cells that make up the nervous system. Also, cholesterol is very important to ours hormones: as it is a good precursor for hormones such as testosterone and estrogen.
This molecule moves inside our organism using the blood and as special vehicles lipoproteins which tend to differ in physical characteristics such as density and size. But besides all these functions, cholesterol is the main main constituent of plaques aterosclerotiche, which obstruct the arteries by depositing themselves on the walls of the same. In this case, these are low-density lipoproteins, better known as cholesterol bad or LDL.
This condition is often associated with a strong development of diseases or pathologies cardiovascular. Every year the numbers that report deaths due to this pathology are higher and higher, mainly due to stroke or heart attack. For what concern cholesterol good, o HDLconsists of high-density lipoproteins and, consequently, as the name suggests, does not affect the walls of our arteries, but rather takes care of freeing them by transporting all waste substances towards the liver.
Many believe that these pathologies affect a single slice of the population, mainly those over fifty years of age, but this is not the case at all. There are really many cases of children and, in the case of genetic transmission also in children, who have the so-called “family hypercholesterolemia”. It is therefore a vertical transmission that also involves the child adapting to a correct and balanced diet, avoiding foods containing high percentages of grassi.
In fact, nutrition doctors advise patients who suffer from hypercholesterolemia, to base one’s diet mainly on fiber: therefore all kinds of vegetables are welcome, such as courgettes, pumpkins, aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Of course it is possible to eat also meat and fish, but paying attention to how they are prepared: better opt for steaming or grilling, avoiding fried more than once a week. In addition, pay attention to the doses of oil used for dressing: we recommend only one tablespoon per dish.