Anyone who battles high cholesterol knows that food is a decisive factor. Even those who do not suffer from any disease and seek tips for a healthy life know that everything we consume affects our bodies. Therefore, there is no way to lower cholesterol without adhering to a healthy diet.
While the approved foods list is not a champion in popularity, adapting recipes is a great way to get used to it. Another exciting possibility is to combine personalized formulas and natural activities with your food routine. Thus, it is possible to follow a more attractive and practical treatment.
So, on to the tips! We hope you can add these dietary changes to lower cholesterol. However, do not forget to consult a doctor. He can better guide you on how to make these transitions.
Include Fish In Your Meals
Understanding how to lower cholesterol can come down to increasing your intake of good fats while avoiding trans and saturated fats. Therefore, fish is a great alternative: a source of omega-3 fatty acids, a type of good fat. Among the fish that can be consumed are tuna, salmon and trout.
Grain
Beans, lentils, and soy, among other grains, help reduce high cholesterol. Researchers at St Michael’s Hospital concluded that consuming a serving of 130g a day of these grains is capable of lowering cholesterol levels by 5%. In this case, LDL is known to be the bad cholesterol.
Oilseeds
These are one of the most overlooked food groups for lowering cholesterol. Oilseeds make up the group of chestnuts, walnuts, and almonds, among others. They influence the elevation of HDL, the good cholesterol.
Avoid Too Much Cheese
Cheese is one of the most beloved foods. And it can be one of the biggest obstacles for those with high cholesterol. However, excessive cheese consumption increases LDL, the most dangerous type of cholesterol. Therefore, the idea is to replace the cheese with healthier options or consume it in moderation.
Consume Whole Cereals
Fibers and vitamins are great allies in the cholesterol reduction process. Rice, pasta, bread and flour have whole grain versions that should be consumed daily. After all, the action of fibers in the body is quite advantageous. It decreases cholesterol absorption in the intestine, controls blood cholesterol levels and promotes satiety.
Adopt Natural And Custom Formulas
Ensuring the body has the number of nutrients it needs is made easier through food supplements. Above all, they have personalized and natural formulas that complement a balanced diet. As well as respecting the needs of each person’s organism. Talk to your doctor about this possibility!
Although it may seem like a relatively easy dietary change at first glance, the challenge lies in staying with a balanced diet. After all, temptations are everywhere and betting on fad diets is a risk. Therefore, consult a nutritionist to understand how to adapt to the new menu and make this transformation lasting.
Fad Diets: What Risks Do They Bring To Your Health?
Whenever we come across fad diets, we immediately think of quick results. The desire to lose weight drives us to take radical measures, including sudden changes in diet. However, only long-term planning focused on healthy eating and habits changes can bring about permanent changes.
In addition, it is necessary to understand how our body works, considering that each person has a different metabolism. These characteristics are never considered fad diets; they are rules directed at everyone. Furthermore, fad diets that have a medical/scientific basis are rare.
Above all, we need to be very careful with the changes we make in our diet. Risk can bring different health problems if no medical follow-up exists. But what are these possible issues? Understand next!
Nutrient Deprivation
It is common for fad diets to propose excluding some food. For the body, this sudden change implies the lack of absorption of one or several nutrients. This nutritional deficiency, associated with the practice of fasting suggested by diets, interferes with hormone levels and substances responsible for regulating appetite.
In this way, one of the consequences is slow metabolism; your body will burn fewer calories than usual. After all, it activated a defense mechanism to store energy. The desire for sweets also arises because it increases the desire for foods that provide fast glucose.
Eating Disorders
Researchers at the Federal University of Pernambuco concluded that cutting calories increases the chances of developing eating disorders. This means that bulimia or binge eating can also set. Therefore, staying alert and adopting habits for a healthy life is necessary.
Weakness And Fatigue
Without the proper amount of vitamins and minerals, it is natural to experience symptoms such as weakness and fatigue. This demonstrates that fad diets have a restrictive function, causing changes in physiological processes.
Accelerated Weight Loss
It may seem that the effects are positive once rapid weight loss is achieved. However, it is an illusion: body water is quickly lost, not visceral and peripheral fat. The effect can be the opposite: the organism is “in danger” by the food restriction and tries to reserve this energy source in every way.
Therefore, only food reeducation in conjunction with the practice of exercises can reduce fat gradually and slowly. Another benefit of this practice is that it promotes minimal loss of lean mass.
Concertina Effect
Many cases associated with fad diets cause the “accordion effect”. This happens due to radical habit change without food planning, forcing the body to store fat and slow metabolism.
The other negative effect is that depending on the diet; it is often impossible to maintain food deprivation. After weight loss, the person goes back to consuming the suppressed foods. In this way, the accordion effect appears again, where the old weight is quickly regained and, in some cases, an extra weight gain.
As we mentioned, it is always necessary to seek professional guidance, whether it is time to go on a diet or when starting to practice physical exercises. If it is possible, monitoring mental health is also interesting, as it works on the psychological, treating anxiety, which helps transform habits.
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