Cholesterol Cholestrol

Low Carb Diet and Cholesterol?

I'm on a low-carb diet and worried about eating too much cholesterol. What are some good high protein, low cholesterol, low carb foods? Please share any advice you have on this subject. I eat 2 tablespoons of flaxseed per day to keep up my fiber intake. I eat the recommended amount of broccoli and spinach. These are some great tips. Thanks for motivating me!

Public Comments

1. stick with lean meats, chicken, fish, turkey, and watch the way you prepare them. You can have beef, but make sure you are choosing lean cuts. Processed meats should be consumed in small amounts. Low fat cheese is good, too, especially cheese sticks. Make sure you are eating good carbs, like veggies, to give you some fiber which will help keep your body healthy and drink lots of water too.
2. Though it's good to be aware of your cholesterol intake, you need to realize that we do need some dietery cholesterol to be healthy - completely eliminating cholesterol from the diet isn't only unnecessary but unhealthy. One good thing about reduced carb diets is that it helps keep triglyceride levels down, as long as the carbs you are getting are whole healthy low GI carbs, especially fibrous carbs. Just stick with lean protein sources, good fats and fibrous carbs and you really can't go wrong. The thing to realize is that, for the most part, cholesterol levels in humans is hereditary, about 70%. The other 30% can be controlled by diet and exercise. Soluble fiber and polyunsaturated fats have been known to actually reduce serum LDL levels and increase HDLs. Eliminating processed high GI carbs will help with triglycerides. Having some cholesterol in the diet, in controlled amounts, is good because then the body does not overproduce its own cholesterol when it senses it's getting cholesterol from the outside. Finally, though saturated fats have been shown to increase cholesterol in higher amounts, some saturated fats (especially in women) is desireable as it helps in the production of sex hormones. Fish, skinless/boneless poultry and lean beef are examples of good protein sources. Beans, nuts, leafy green and colorful veggies all typically have high fiber content, among a variety of other healthy properties. Whole grains such as whole oatmeal, brown rice and barley are great fiber sources. Olive, fish and flax seed oil contain good fats, and whole eggs are a great source of nutrients (in limited amounts). Edit: One thing to be careful about with Atkins and other carb restricting diets is that they maintain you can pretty much have any fats or protein sources you want. I cannot recommend this as recent research indicates the harm of this, and plus it's unnecessary to eat unhealthy foods even if you're cutting out carbs. The other thing is that I don't recommend cutting out carbs completely. Going into ketosis is a temporary measure and carbs are truly and essential macronutrient. Though restricting them to a degree can be very effective for fat loss, eliminating them isn't necessary for most people. The goal here is to find a long-term solution to good health by making it a lifestyle.
3. Most low carb foods are low in the cholesterol forming saturated fats. High fiber foods such as beans, peppers and greens will help lower cholesterol. As for protein, chicken and fish are high in protein and low in saturated fats.
4. What Dr. Adkins says is that if you are not eating the carbs you don't need to worry about the cholesterol in the animal fats you are consuming. If you don't have high cholesterol now it won't make you have it and it will lower triglycerides which are more of a problem for most people. the thing is you can't play with it. If you start eating the carbs again and don't cut the fats then you can get into cardiac trouble. I find this diet really works for me but is hard to follow in the winter because I live in Minnesota where it is really cold - below 0 this morning and dark- and I have seasonal depression so I crave carbs like mad. I just found Quakers Weight control instant oatmeal. It is much better in taste and texture than the fruity ones, has 29 carb but 10 are good fiber and 7g of protein. I eat it instead of eggs for breakfast several times a week. This time of year I just try to stay under 75g of carbs a day because I still need to lose weight.