TOP 9 effective diets for high blood cholesterol

17 March 2022

Therapeutic diet for high cholesterol in the blood is a key link in the treatment of this disease. Consider how you can avoid excess fat and cholesterol in your diet. We will figure out how to choose the right healthy food for yourself each day and budget the menu for the week if you are dealing with hyperlipidemia.

20 basic dietary rules for high cholesterol

High cholesterol can be a cause of coronary heart disease, lower leg vein thrombosis, stroke, myocardial infarction. You can prevent the severe consequences of chronic hyperlipidemia by following the simple rules listed below.

The diet for hypercholesterolemia should be fractional. Try to eat 5-6 small meals a day. Therefore, there is no increase in appetite and the risk of overeating after prolonged fasting.
Eat vegetables and fruits at any time and in large quantities. Dietary fiber accelerates the excretion of excess cholesterol from the body.
With bad cholesterol, the diet should contain mainly foods with vegetable fats. Try using olive oil instead of butter when cooking.
Try to eat lean meat no more than a few times a week. With high cholesterol, recipes and menus using chicken, beef, rabbit and lamb are most appropriate.
Proper nutrition with high cholesterol is supported by sports. Walking slowly at least three kilometers a day is recommended for people with high levels of low-density lipoprotein.
The diet for hypercholesterolemia should consist primarily of steamed, baked and boiled foods. Frying should be avoided altogether.
If you have high cholesterol, avoid foods high in animal fat. No need to eat lard, pork, bacon, smoked meats. Replace this product with boiled chicken, fish, seafood.
Increased levels of salt in food are contraindicated in high blood pressure and atherosclerotic diseases. Try to eat no more than 5 grams of salt per day. It is better to abandon this product completely.
It is necessary to drink at least two liters of water per day, especially with concentrated blood and increased bilirubin. Elevated levels of this indicator usually indicate a violation of liver and gallbladder function, leading to hyperlipidemia. Increased blood viscosity gives rise to the fixation of blood clots on lipid deposits in vessels. It is necessary to eat sour berries that can thin the blood, such as cherries and gooseberries.
Sweet pastries and high cholesterol are a bad combination. Milk chocolate should also be avoided. As an alternative dessert, sugar-free oatmeal biscuits, dried fruits, nuts and honey are ideal. Sometimes you can indulge yourself in the delights of eastern Turkey.
Daily caloric requirements for women and men vary-an average of 2200 kcal and 2600 kcal, respectively. Increased caloric intake is also needed for those engaged in heavy physical labor. These factors are important when formulating a diet.
Make sure you refrain from alcohol abuse. Red wine is allowed, but no more than two glasses a week.
Coffee is a controversial ally in the fight against high cholesterol. It contains cafestol, which increases the production of endogenous cholesterol by the liver. But some experts, by contrast, recommend drinking 1-2 cups of coffee a day, as this helps strengthen the cardiovascular system. So you can drink coffee, but don’t abuse it. The alternative is a chicory drink or green tea.
Cook porridge every day. Try not to boil the cereal, let it crumble. Don’t taste ready meals with a lot of butter if you have high cholesterol. For oats, for example, honey and dried fruits are suitable as seasonings.
Hyperlipidemia does not include the use of fatty dairy products. Replace it with nonfat yogurt and kefir. Instead, use low -fat yogurt and kefir.
Products that contain harmful trans fats, such as fast food, are strictly prohibited. Avoid chips and other snacks.
While cooking the chicken, remove the skin from the surface. Because it makes dishes more fatty and contains harmful components.
Semi -finished products and hypercholesterolemia are mutually exclusive concepts. In such products there are no useful vitamins and minerals. Such foods do not bring enough energy, but only clog the body with ballast calories and fat.
Try not to overeat at night. Have dinner at least two hours before bedtime. To suppress your appetite before bed, it is better to drink a glass of kefir or eat a few dates, a handful of almonds.
Your doctor will tell you how to eat in the best way. After weighing all the risks and comorbidities, an experienced specialist will help develop the most effective nutrition plan. Self -treatment of high cholesterol is not recommended.

High cholesterol is a reversible process if you follow the recommendations above and undergo regular medical checkups.

Popular diet for lowering cholesterol in women and men

A cholesterol -lowering diet may be based on a combination of different foods. To significantly reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, it is important to adhere to the recommended diet for a long time, at least six months.

To understand the different types of diets that control high cholesterol, a comparative description of the most popular diets will help.

mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet, which lowers cholesterol levels, is recommended for those with atherosclerotic disease, hypertension and overweight. The basis of such a diet is a lot of cheese, meat, fish and spices. Nevertheless, this product is perfectly combined and has a positive effect on high cholesterol. List of foods in the diet:

Spices and herbs.
Soft cheese like feta.
Olive oil.
Fish, shellfish, shrimp.
Birds, goats.
Red wine in moderation.
Unleavened flat bread is made from wheat flour (pitas).
Vegetables and fruits.
Greek yogurt.
Bijirin.

Fatty meats, lard, sausages, sugary drinks with gas are categorically excluded from the diet. Because this product can cause high cholesterol in the blood. For example, the following menu for high cholesterol, calculated for a week, is presented:

Day 1

For breakfast: three pieces of fried lentils flavored with yogurt.
For lunch, refresh yourself with a creamy Brussels sprout soup with shrimp; fruit plates and salads with olives and tofu.
You can eat pita for dinner, stuffed with feta cubes and salad (cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, some olives).

Day 2

A good start for today is zrazy buckwheat-curd.
Lunch snacks - light soup with lentils, risotto with vegetables.
A good atmosphere in the evening will be provided by grilled salmon, flavored with olive oil, with Provence herbs.

Day 3

Breakfast - buckwheat cooked in vegetable soup.
During lunch, grilled tuna with vegetables will restore strength; pure tomato soup.
For dinner: salad with chicken breast and avocado, flavored with olive oil, pita.

Day 4

Breakfast: yogurt with chopped hazelnuts and almonds, you can add a little honey.
Light lunch: soup with fish meatballs, baked potatoes with tomatoes.
Dinner: vegetable salad with one egg, lemon juice and olive oil.

Day 5

Breakfast: oats on the water, with the addition of honey and raisins.
Energizing for lunch - soup -pure spinach leaves and asparagus with liquid cream; Lightly boiled salmon with wild rice.
Dinner: bake a pie with small cherry tomatoes and feta, on a full flour crust, optionally crush tofu cubes.

Day 6

Breakfast: dried fruit soufflé, green tea.
For lunch - cabbage soup, boiled chicken with vegetables, one ribbon.
For dinner - zucchini with feta in the oven, pita with avocado and olive oil.

7th day

For breakfast: pour roasted pumpkin with yogurt and honey.
Lunch: cream soup of mushrooms and chanterelles; chicken, grated with garlic, with sweet pepper in the oven.
Dinner: stew of wild rice with mussels and shrimp.

For snacks between main dishes, you can use dates, prunes, raisins, almonds. Such a diet will not only help to put high cholesterol, but also lose weight.

Diet schedule number 10

Cooking methods are mainly boiling and baking. Given that high cholesterol does not include the consumption of fried foods. It is recommended to eat at least five times a day in small portions. Evening snacks no later than two hours before bedtime. Edible products:

Freshly squeezed vegetable juice, jelly.
Wheat Bread.
Fresh vegetable salad.
Eggs without yolks.
Fish: tuna, salmon, carp.
Lean cottage cheese, kefir and yogurt.
Kashi.

It is necessary to reject the following products: butter, fatty meats, and especially red fish delicacies, salted and smoked, fatty cheeses, pickled vegetables, mustard. An example of a week -long menu if you have high cholesterol might look like this:

Early breakfast: buckwheat cooked in 1%milk, soft boiled eggs, weak green tea with milk.
Snack before dinner: a piece of boiled chicken or a fresh apple.
Lunch: vegetable soup with finely chopped barley, mushrooms and zucchini, grilled salmon or goldfish with boiled vegetables (for example, bell peppers, onions, zucchini), 1 glass of fresh apple juice.
Snacks: rosehip tea, nuts and dried fruits (e. g. , prunes and almonds).
Dinner: low -fat cottage cheese, boiled grated beets with apples, 1 glass of low -fat milk.
At night: 1 glass of nonfat kefir.

Throughout the week, you can combine a wide variety of dishes from vegetables, white chicken and fish. For snacks, use nuts, fruits, such as bananas or apples. Dietary table No. 10 is recommended not only for the prevention of vascular atherosclerosis, but also for hypothyroidism. With a regular diet for at least four months, high cholesterol can be significantly reduced.

Diet schedule number 10A

This diet has some restrictions:

Bread - a maximum of 145 g per day.
Vegetable soup - up to 180 ml.
Consumption of cheese, pearl barley and cereals is excluded.
Do not eat very hot or cold foods.

Diet table number 10, which has a positive effect on high cholesterol, looks like this for each day:

Breakfast: chopped oatmeal with 1%milk, green tea, a small apple.
Snack: baked apples with cottage cheese.
Lunch: cut steamed chicken, mashed potatoes without oil, half a glass of fresh apple juice.
Afternoon snack: prunes or dates.
Dinner: cut carrots-apples baked in the oven, half a glass of lean kefir.
Before bedtime: half a glass of rosehip tincture or chicory drink.

After age 50, more than 35% of people have high cholesterol. As a result, the risk of development of atherosclerotic disease and the occurrence of myocardial infarction, stroke increases. Therefore, at this age it is very important to adhere to proper nutrition in combination with light physical activity.

Nutrition schedule №10C

Table No. 10C is a therapeutic diet to lower cholesterol. This diet is recommended for people diagnosed with coronary heart disease and high blood pressure, which is provoked by atherosclerosis. The menu is dominated by vegetable fats, dietary fiber, foods with high content of vitamins B, PP, C. The daily caloric content of the menu is about 2570 kcal. It is necessary to eat fractional portions in six doses per day.

Recommended foods that have a good effect on high cholesterol include:

Bran.
Sea cabbage.
Vegetables and fruits can be eaten in large portions.
Bake or boil eggs a little, a maximum of three pieces a week.
Room, oatmeal, barley porridge.
Honey, a few tablespoons a day.
Spaghetti durum, try not to overcook.

Prohibited foods include menus such as food number 10. The estimated daily diet is as follows:

Breakfast: boiled buckwheat without oil, light curd mass with seasonal fruits, tea.
Snack: baked apples or dried apricots.
Lunch: boiled carrots, chopped steamed beets, rice soup with vegetables fried lightly in olive oil, seasonal fruit compote.
Afternoon snack: a berry smoothie without sugar or honey with a handful of hazelnuts.
Dinner: Seasonal vegetable salad with olive oil and seaweed, salmon (another oily fish) grilled with lemon and thyme slices, boiled potatoes, weak green tea.
Before bedtime: a glass of 1% kefir.

A healthy lifestyle is not limited to nutrition alone. Because high cholesterol levels require complex treatment. Do not forget about physical exercise, as well as a walk in the fresh air.

low carb diet

Foods excluded from the low -carb menu include:

Sweet pastries, white bread.
Sugar and fructose, honey.
Alcoholic and sweet drinks with gas.
Macaroni and potatoes.
chocolate milk.
Sweet fruits like grapes.

In large quantities, animal protein should be present in the daily diet, for example, fish, dairy products, lean meats. Here's what a low -carb menu looks like for a week:

Monday

Egg white omelette with chopped mushrooms and tomatoes;
Creamy Chicken and Brussels Sprouts Soup. Two whole grain breads;
pear;
Boiled beef with bell pepper.

Tuesday

Thin pancakes on kefir with cottage cheese, raisins.
Salmon ears. Two slices of whole grain bread.
Green apple.
Stuff boiled chicken with spinach.

Wednesday

Cheesecake with low -fat sour cream.
Buckwheat on water and pieces of roasted chicken.
Orange.
Cold chicken.

Thursday

Whipped curds.
Cheese soup with chicken breast. Two whole grain toasts.
Half a grapefruit.
Unpolished rice. Steamed zucchini and slices of carrot, fresh cucumber.

Friday

One soft boiled egg sprinkled with grated cheese.
Boiled fish in a light creamy sauce.
Kiwi or an orange.
Boiled beans, mashed. Chicken rolls. One tomato.
Before bedtime - a glass of kefir.

Saturday

Cottage cheese and real yogurt.
Steamed mutton balls and one cucumber.
Mandarin or apple.
Seafood. Arugula salad with olive oil.

Sunday

Steamed omelet with chicken breast.
Baked Turkish fillet with broccoli.
A glass of 1% kefir.
Boiled rabbit with vegetables (onions, zucchini, sweet peppers).

While following this diet, it is recommended to consume up to two liters of fluid per day. In women, contraindications to a low -carbohydrate diet may be the period of lactation and pregnancy. High cholesterol with timely detection can be successfully treated with dietary correction. What type of diet you should follow, only the attending physician can finally decide after a detailed analysis of your history.

paleo diet

The Paleo diet includes foods that our Stone Age ancestors ate before the development of agriculture. A large amount of animal protein was the basis of prehistoric nutrition. At the same time, carbohydrates and fats are used in the diet more or less. The main product is meat, which contains animal protein. He is the one who speeds up the metabolic process and helps prevent the accumulation of excess fat.

The paleo diet is ideal for lowering cholesterol in the blood, as the consumption of animal fats is reduced. It is recommended to eat every five hours, about three times a day. The main products allowed are:

Lean meat and poultry.
Seafood, fish.
Oils: olive, flaxseed, sesame.
Mushrooms, nuts and seeds without heat treatment.
Fresh berries, vegetables and fruits.

Sugar and salt, legumes and cereals, dairy products, vegetables with starch (potatoes, sweet potatoes) are excluded from the diet with such a diet. It is recommended to consume food mostly raw or after minimal heat treatment. This type of diet will help protect blood vessels from the formation of cholesterol and plaque. High low -density lipoprotein levels can be returned to normal if the principles of the paleo diet are adhered to.

Diet keto

The keto diet is based on a minimum consumption of carbohydrates. In this case, the body trains to produce more energy than fat and protein. This high cholesterol diet helps reduce low -density lipoprotein. At the same time, there is an increase in the level of "good" cholesterol.

While on a ketogenic diet, avoid bread, sugar, pasta, fruits and sweets. With a lack of carbohydrates, the body begins to intensively break down fat reserves.

This diet is similar to a low carb diet. When choosing the optimal menu, you must use the following rules:

Breakfast: In the morning, try to eat up to 15 g of carbohydrates. The source can be cheese or vegetables. It is recommended to eat an omelet in olive oil with tomatoes, add toast with bran. Calorie content - 500-600 kcal.
During lunch, you need to limit carbs. Nutritionists recommend eating soup with chicken meatballs (without potatoes, noodles). Note that high cholesterol suggests eating vegetable soups. For the latter, you can eat brown rice with a breast and a piece of cheese.
Dinner should contain an increased percentage of protein and fiber. Chicken or lamb, beef and green vegetables will suit. It is better to roast the meat, and make a salad from vegetables with a tablespoon of olive oil.

When following a ketogenic diet, the body functions in an "emergency" mode, being in a state of ketosis due to the body’s production of ketones (fatty acid derivatives). Therefore, medical supervision during such a diet is necessary. Although there are associated risks, high cholesterol becomes normal while on a keto diet.

Some argue that diet does not help much in lowering cholesterol and recommend taking statins. A very controversial fact. Many doctors and specialists basically disagree on this point.

Ornish Vegetarian Diet

The diet was first created by Dean Ornish, Bill Clinton’s personal physician. And it is based on strict control of fat consumed. No more than 20 grams of fat is allowed per day. This diet is indicated if a person is diagnosed with hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis and obesity. Basically the menu is vegetarian. These foods characterize an increase in the percentage of carbohydrates in the food consumed.

It is necessary to combine the Ornish diet with physical exercise, physical activity. The daily balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, respectively, is 10, 25, 75%. Recommended products for use:

Vegetables, mostly green.
Lentils, beans, peas.
Apples and pears.
Buckwheat porridge, made from corn, wheat, and rice.

Eat simply eggs, dairy products, cheese, biscuits. Categorically it is necessary to exclude red meat products, puffs and pastries, butter, mayonnaise, olives, nuts, seeds.

Sample menus for the week can be arranged as follows.

First day

Breakfast: chicory drink, a tablespoon of wheat bran added to low -fat yogurt.
Lunch: some large baked potatoes with tomatoes, cucumber salad, vegetables and Iceberg salad, a green apple.
Snacks: apricots or plums (3 pieces), other seasonal fruits, low-fat cottage cheese.
Dinner: two full toasts, an apple or pear, durum wheat spaghetti sprinkled with low -fat cheese, berry compote.

The second day

Breakfast: freshly squeezed orange juice, rice porridge with low -fat milk, a glass of kefir.
Lunch: beans with mushrooms and onions, salad with tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers, dressed with olive oil.
Afternoon snacks: strawberries, whole wheat bread.
Dinner: two slices of bran bread, half an avocado, boiled buckwheat porridge with mushrooms and carrots, green tea.

Day Three

Breakfast: decaffeinated coffee, a cup of muesli with berries and low -fat milk.
Lunch: soup with slices of pumpkin and spinach, couscous with vegetables, vinaigrette without pickles.
Afternoon snack: a glass of kefir, low -fat biscuits.
Dinner: a portion of roasted eggplant with onions and carrots, a bowl of seasonal berries, mint tea.

Forth day

Breakfast: pomegranate juice, pumpkin-zucchini pancakes.
Lunch: broccoli and cauliflower soup, boiled asparagus with rice and chicken fillets.
Snacks: low -fat cottage cheese with the addition of yogurt, oatmeal biscuits.
Dinner: boiled white cabbage with carrots and onions, any fruit of your choice, currant compote.

The fifth day

Breakfast: apple juice, porridge from a mixture of cereals.
Lunch: two pieces of fish, mashed potatoes without adding milk and with a small piece of butter.
Afternoon snack: a cup of low -fat kefir, a green apple.
Dinner: asparagus and green bean soup, weak tea.

The sixth day

Breakfast: chicory drink, lean cottage cheese with honey.
Lunch: boiled turkey breast with zucchini and pumpkin puree, orange juice.
Afternoon snacks: oat pudding, multi -grain bread.
Dinner: two rolls of cabbage stuffed with rice and vegetables, mineral water.

The seventh day

Breakfast: a piece of cottage cheese casserole with raisins, chicory.
Lunch: 2 slices of lentils and carrots, rice.
Snack: 3 toasted cheesecake, orange juice.
Dinner: apples stuffed with cottage cheese and dried apricots, chamomile tea.

High cholesterol with strict adherence to these dietary canons can return to normal. Order and self -control are very important to achieve results.

Intermittent fasting

Fasting is used to lower blood cholesterol. It is possible to treat high cholesterol levels with a diet with elements of complete starvation in the following way: with a lack of food, the body begins to use low-density lipoprotein reserves to obtain lifelong energy. Already after 12 hours of fasting, cholesterol, as an alternative source of energy, begins to be released into the blood and broken down to form energy.

Cholesterol starvation budget scheme for a week:

The first day - only freshly squeezed apple -carrot juice, diluted with water 1: 2. On the second day, you can drink the juice without diluting it with water. For lunch, you can eat 50 g of grated carrots. In the third - drink grape -apple juice and carrots. Eat with a hundred grams of vegetable puree, and before bedtime - kefir.

On the fourth and fifth day, add grated vegetables and fruits, and in the evening-light cottage cheese. On the sixth and seventh days, breakfast should consist of grated vegetables and fruits, and for dinner and lunch, eat buckwheat or overcooked millet grains. Such a strict diet can be carried out only after consultation with a doctor and under medical supervision. To control high cholesterol, it is necessary to repeat the course of therapeutic fasting periodically.

It is not easy to choose the optimal diet for high cholesterol - it is necessary to study in detail all the features of a particular person's body. It is very important to take into account the corresponding disease, gender, age. Only a properly designed menu is an effective prevention of the consequences of severe hypercholesterolemia.