DR. MEGAN ROSSI: My six simple tips for lowering your cholesterol

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Cholesterol has been demonized over the years for its detrimental effects on our cardiovascular health — but it's not all bad: In fact, it plays such a vital role in bodily processes that you simply wouldn't exist without it, writes Dr Megan Rossi (pictured)

Cholesterol has been demonized over the years for its detrimental effects on our cardiovascular health — but that’s not all bad: In fact, it plays such a vital role in bodily processes that you simply wouldn’t exist without it.

For example, our cell walls are made of cholesterol. It is also needed for the production of vitamin D and hormones, and is an important component of bile acids, without which we would not be able to digest fats. To say that without cholesterol we would collapse is no exaggeration.

In recent years, our understanding of cholesterol – and how to deal with it – has changed, sometimes drastically.

At first, we used to think that our diet was a big contributor, but now we know that almost 80 percent of cholesterol is actually made in the body — in the liver.

That means foods like eggs, which are naturally high in cholesterol, are back on the menu for most people, which is a good thing since they’re a powerhouse of nutrients.

Cholesterol has been demonized over the years for its detrimental effects on our cardiovascular health — but that’s not all bad: In fact, it plays such a vital role in bodily processes that you simply wouldn’t exist without it, writes Dr. Megan Rossi (pictured)

Another thing is that there are more forms of cholesterol than we used to think.

When people talk about their cholesterol levels, they usually mean their total cholesterol. This includes “good,” high-density lipoprotein, or HDL cholesterol, which carries cholesterol back to the liver where it is recycled or broken down and removed from the body; and “bad,” low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol.

We now know that there are also subtypes of LDL with different sizes and densities. The smaller, denser types are believed to be the most likely to cause problems, as they can squeeze into gaps and flaws in blood vessels, which the larger types cannot.

There are some things that affect your cholesterol levels that are out of your control — women tend to have lower levels than men thanks to estrogen, which raises HDL cholesterol (until menopause, when the tide turns), but others Factors that you absolutely can do something about.

Here are six of the easiest ways to make sure your cholesterol is in the right range.

In recent years, our understanding of cholesterol ¿ and how to deal with it ¿ has changed, sometimes drastically

In recent years, our understanding of cholesterol – and how to deal with it – has changed, sometimes drastically

Keep your bowel movements regular

Cholesterol is used to form bile acids, which break down fats in food. As your meal passes through the small intestine, it’s mixed with a splash of bile acids – these are later absorbed further down the gut and then returned to the liver.

But when you’re constipated, those high-cholesterol bile acids linger in the gut longer, allowing more cholesterol to be reabsorbed, raising your levels.

A 2011 study in the American Journal of Medicine, which included more than 70,000 postmenopausal women, found that those who suffered from constipation were more likely to suffer from heart disease — and it seems likely that this mechanism is at least partly responsible.

If constipation is a problem, focus on drinking two liters of fluids a day. Eating 50g of prunes or two kiwis (including the skin) per day may also be beneficial. Flea seed husks, available in health food stores and some drugstores, can also help. Mix half a tablespoon with water and drink daily.

Eat plant sterols and stanols

These natural compounds are found in plants, and the genius thing about them is that they’re shaped like cholesterol: Eating them helps the body absorb less cholesterol in the gut, so more is excreted in the feces.

Good sources include vegetable oils, grains like bread and cereals, seeds, nuts, legumes, and fruits and vegetables.

A healthy diet would contain around 400mg, enough to maintain overall health. But you need more than 2g to significantly reduce LDL – you could try a sterol-fortified product like some yogurt drinks that provide that amount per serving.

Did you know?

Cooking vegetables can reduce the level of water-soluble nutrients – the amount of vitamin C, for example, can be almost halved.

So steam veggies or reserve the cooking water and use it in soup or gravy like your grandma used to do!

Avoid partially hydrogenated oil

Most people know to swap out saturated fats like butter and steak for unsaturated fats found in olive oil and oily fish (but a little butter or cheese every once in a while is fine).

Our liver cells have LDL receptors, and when LDL passes through the blood, these receptors help remove it and carry it to the liver, where it is broken down.

Research suggests that eating too much saturated fat prevents the receptors from working as well, which allows cholesterol to build up.

Another type of fat, called partially hydrogenated fat (or trans fat), increases circulating levels of total and LDL cholesterol while lowering good HDL cholesterol—so the damage is double.

Food manufacturers use trans fats because they extend the shelf life of packaged baked goods. While they do leak, they’re not entirely gone: avoid products with “partially hydrogenated” on the label.

Eat beans daily

A daily serving of legumes — butter beans, black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, whatever your fancy — nourishes your gut bacteria, which in turn help digest cholesterol. A 2021 Harvard University study found that people with certain gut bacteria, including the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families, had lower cholesterol levels than people with fewer of these bacteria. So eat the beans!

Train until you’re out of breath

Exercise increases the levels of enzymes that transport LDL to the liver. It’s also believed to increase the size of the proteins that carry the cholesterol molecule – and larger molecules are less likely to squeeze into gaps in blood vessel walls and cause problems.

Researchers at Duke Medical Center in the US found that any exercise was better than none, but moderate exercise, which they believed to be the equivalent of jogging or walking 12 miles per week, was less effective than jogging 20 miles, ie all the more so the better.

Another study, published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine in 2016, found that regular high-intensity interval training (HIIT) — short bursts of intense exercise with rest periods — increased women’s HDL levels by 21 percent after just three weeks. For suggestions on this, search online for NHS HIIT.

Get your oats

Whether hot as oatmeal or cold as homemade granola, oatmeal is the breakfast king for lowering cholesterol.

Their magic ingredient is beta-glucan, a soluble fiber that forms a thick gel in the gut that reduces the absorption of cholesterol (it also promotes the elimination of bile acids, further reducing the amount of recycled cholesterol).

Research shows that consuming 3g of beta-glucan per day can reduce LDL levels by about 7 percent. A 40g bowl of oatmeal contains about 2g – increase your intake even further by substituting oats for flour in recipes and eating oat-based snacks (see recipe above).

Whether hot as oatmeal or cold as homemade granola, oatmeal is the breakfast king for lowering cholesterol

Whether hot as oatmeal or cold as homemade granola, oatmeal is the breakfast king for lowering cholesterol

Ask Megan

I have an aversion to certain vegetables. Are there any dietary supplements that would meet the same criteria?

Robert Malcom.

It would certainly make my job easier if there was a supplement that could replace veggies. Unfortunately, even the “super green” powders now available just don’t fill the herbal gap.

That’s because there are tens of thousands of plant compounds called phytochemicals found in vegetables, and many of these are damaged during the processing and extraction processes used to make supplements. Instead of wasting your money on supplements, the secret is to make veggies more appealing.

Try roasting them in the oven with olive oil and smoky paprika, or sneak them into a pesto (I use cooked Brussels sprouts to make pesto—mash them with fresh basil, walnuts, lemon juice, olive oil, and parmesan).

If you dress vegetables this way, after a few months your taste buds will become more accepting of them, even in the undressed form. That’s the beauty of our taste buds, we can teach them to enjoy foods we thought we didn’t like.

Contact dr. Megan Rossi

Email [email protected] or write to Good Health, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT – please include your contact details. dr Megan Rossi cannot maintain personal correspondence. The answers should be viewed in a general context; Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns

Try these: Walnut Flapjack Balls

power 12

A treat high in soluble fiber to help keep cholesterol levels in check. Freeze individual portions and enjoy as a mid-morning pick-me-up or pre-workout snack.

  • 4 Medjool dates
  • 50 g ground almonds
  • 25 grams of rolled oats
  • 100 g grated carrot
  • 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 15 g coconut flakes
  • 1 tsp grated fresh ginger (optional)
  • 12 walnuts

In a food processor, grind the dates, almonds, and rolled oats until coarsely blended. Add the remaining ingredients (except the walnuts) and blend again.

The mixture should be moist, but not so wet that you can’t roll it (if it’s too wet, add more oatmeal).

Use a walnut half as a core and form a ball around it with the mixture. To repeat.

Leave to set in the fridge for at least two hours.

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