The best strategy to reduce ‘bad’ cholesterol in the diet, which tends to clog arteries with fatal consequences for cardiovascular health, is to maintain a heart-healthy diet that avoids saturated fats and replaces them with polyunsaturated fats.
A dietary pattern of this type is already low in cholesterol, concludes the American Heart Association (AHA), and is a more reliable indicator than counting the cholesterol of each food.
In the study, which is equivalent to an update of its recommendations, the AHA determines, for example, that eating a whole egg a day or its equivalent, “such as 85 g of shrimp” is “reasonable” if you are following one of these healthy diets for the heart when it comes to a person without previous illnesses.
“The relationship between dietary cholesterol and cardiovascular disease risk cannot ignore two aspects of diet. First, most foods that contribute to dietary cholesterol are often high in saturated fat, which is strongly associated with an increased risk of having too much LDL cholesterol,” explains Jo Ann S. Carson, chair of the AHA Committee on Nutrition. .
Why are they so appropriate? They are nutrient-dense diets that emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, poultry, fish or vegetable proteins, nuts, and seeds.
On the other hand, there are two common foods that are especially dangerous for cholesterol. “Saturated fats (found primarily in animal products like red and processed meat and full-fat dairy) should be replaced with polyunsaturated fats like corn or soybean oils.” In addition, “foods rich in added sugars and salt should be limited,” explains the researcher.