2024-11-26 17:30:00
Everyone who has too much cholesterol received the same advice: “correct your diet”. This is indeed primordial, and the first of treatments are dietary. Easier said than done! What to eat, how many times a week, in what quantity?
How diet can lower cholesterol levels?
Excess cholesterol is mainly linked to lifestyle. Essential to the body, this fatty substance is partly provided by foods (butter, eggs, etc.) but above all, it is produced by the liver. Problems arise when a fraction of this cholesterol (LDL) is found in excess in the blood because, after several years, it forms on the walls arteries deposits that could obstruct them.
The exogenous part of the diet is 20 to 30%, it is not the most important part. However, you can eliminate your dietary intake of cholesterol. And succeed in reducing your overall cholesterol level, recognizes Dr. Jean-Michel Cohen, nutritionist.
What diet should you adopt when you have cholesterol?
The excess of bad cholesterol or LDLis linked to overconsumption foods high in fat or too much cholesterol synthesis by the liver and a failure in its elimination. “During their digestion, fiber leads to the production of compounds, some of which inhibit the absorption of cholesterol,” explains Professor Éric Bruckert.
“Conversely, excess saturated fats and meat foods disrupt the elimination of cholesterol by promoting the proliferation of harmful bacteria. This excess contributes to stiffening cell membranes, which hinders the uptake of bad cholesterol by the blood.” Here’s how compose your plate to lower your cholesterol.
Favor lean meats, fish and poultry to combat high cholesterol
To combat high cholesterol levels, we limit fatty meats (rib steak, etc.) to one portion per week (removing the fatty parts), just like cold meats (excluding white ham, bacon, grisons meat). “There are many alternatives such as poultry, rabbit, fish, eggs, lean meats (for beef: tenderloin, rump steak, shank, minced steak with 5% fat; for veal: walnuts, shank ; for pork: filet mignon, tenderloin), and vegetable proteins (tofu…)”, indicates Sophie Gougis, dietitian nutritionist.
Increase the proportion of fruits and vegetables to reduce LDL cholesterol
In order to counter too high bad cholesterol levels, it is advisable to consume more fruits and vegetables. The goal is to consume 2 to 3 vegetables and 2 to 3 fruits per day. “To introduce more and not get bored, it is interesting to vary the families and the preparations. Raw vegetables, soups, pan-fried dishes, gratins with fat-free béchamel (cornstarch + milk) for vegetables, recommends the dietician. Carpaccios, compotes… for fruit.”
Consume oilseeds regularly to increase good cholesterol
30 g per day of walnuts or almonds for fiber and polyunsaturated fatty acids make it possible to increase the good cholesterol. “They can be eaten with meals or as a snack, taking care not to deviate into snacking behavior,” warns Sophie Gougis.
Choose your dairy products wisely when you have cholesterol
When we have cholesterol, we consume two dairy products per day (2 to 3 after 75 years) including a maximum portion of cheese (30 g or 1/8 of Camembert), and yogurts, white cheeses, petit-suisses whose fat content does not exceed 3.5 g of lipids per 100 g. “These dairy products can be sweetened, but not with more than 12 g of sugar per 100 g,” specifies Sophie Gougis. “And if we go for a cream dessert, we eliminate the fruit and the portion of cheese from the meal.”
Moderate foods high in cholesterol
When the bad rate is too high, it is important to moderate the foods high in cholesterol. Thus, we do not consume more than 2 to 3 eggs per week (including preparations) and we moderate offal and certain seafood (scallop coral, milky oysters, mussels): no more than once every 15 days. “It’s also better to cut (levelly) the heads of shrimp, lobsters and langoustines, because the cholesterol is concentrated there,” adds Sophie Gougis.
Processed foods should be avoided
“In particular pastries, pastries, quiches, prepared meals, etc. which contain saturated fatsor even trans fats which have been shown to increase bad cholesterol,” explains Dr Jean-Michel Lecerf, nutritionist. We favor raw foods, and we allow ourselves an extra per week by preparing it ourselves (with vegetable oils) or by preferring products containing rapeseed or sunflower oils rather than trans fatty acids, butter, coconut, palm oils , copra…
What to eat in the morning?
Swap refined grains for whole grains : this is the basic reflex to easily increase your intake of fibers, as well as introducing 2 portions of dried vegetables per week, taking into account your digestive tolerance.
“For those who are reluctant, this can be done by mixing cereals and vegetables, adding a fat-free white sauce, a homemade tomato sauce (tomato, onion, olive oil), soy cream, or even crème fraîche or butter occasionally if you don’t eat butter in the morning,” notes Sophie Gougis. “The same goes for dried vegetables which also lend themselves to soups and purees.” For more fiber, you can also sprinkle oat bran on yogurts, compotes, etc.
Choose fats wisely
All fat are not worth each other. “Unlike saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and their fatty acids 9, 3 and 6 improve the flexibility of cell membranes and thus the capture and then destruction of cholesterol,” explains Professor Bruckert. Here are the different fats and their quantities that it is recommended to use:
To spread: butter (no more than 10 g/day), omega-3 margarine (with rapeseed, flax, walnut oils), almond puree;To season: rapeseed, walnut, olive, camelina, soy cream oils;To bake and fry: oleic (virgin) olive and sunflower oils;To bake: Omega-3 margarine, Rapeseed oil (8 tbsp per 100 g of butter).
The food pyramid of an anti-cholesterol diet
Family by food family, here is the food pyramid of the National Nutrition and Health Program (PNNS) adapted to anti-cholesterol diet.
Sugars and sweet products: limit their consumption
Favor homemade cakes cooked with margarines or fat-free products such as gingerbread.
Fats: eliminate those of animal origin
The anti-cholesterol diet requires “ to eliminate fats of animal originparticularly dairy. It’s quite easy because you can cook and cook with oil,” reassures Dr Jean-Michel Cohen.
Meat and poultry: to select
We must focus on the white poultry (chicken, turkey breasts) at will. Prefer the leanest pieces of veal and beef (slice tenderloin or rump steak) no more than three to four times a week (i.e. around 500 g), and avoid cold cuts and the fattest meats: mainly pork, at with the exception of de-rinded, defatted white ham, lamb and duck.
Fish: at least twice a week
A quantity revised upwards: all white, lean fish are allowed at will, and fatty fish, sardines, mackerel, herring, tuna, salmon, interesting for their omega-3, come to the table not two, but three times a week. Fats yes, but omega-3s. Small clarification: seafood also provides cholesterol. Avoid the head of shellfish and limit yourself to 6 oysters as a starter.
Vegetables and fruits: at least five per day
Achieving this is already a success, and the goal is to eat as much as possible. “ They contain fiberand it is known that a high intake of dietary fiber reduces fat absorption. Such a diet offers a second advantage: it reduces other food intake,” specifies the doctor. Some contain more than others, but the differences are not really significant. SO, we might as well eat those we love. A raw vegetable starter with each meal, vegetables with the main course, two pieces of fruit per day… and the score is good.
Breads, cereals, potatoes: at each meal and according to appetite
No change, provided you eat starchy foods with oil and avoid animal fats (butter, crème fraîche, bacon), and the gruyere on pasta or potatoes. For example, we prefer pasta with tomato, olive oil and basil to gratin dauphinois.
How to prevent cholesterol by adopting good habits?
When a person has high cholesterol, the specialist focuses on detect the biggest errors in order to propose a tolerable action plan.
If the regime is effective, it is in our interest to make it last; if it is modestly effective, the doctor will consider prescribing medication. Professor Éric Bruckert, endocrinologist at Pitié-Salpêtrière (Paris).
Ces good eating habits, everyone can make them their own, because if they help reduce the cholesterol of those who have too much, they are also good ideas to follow to prevent and control it.
In the absence of hypercholesterolemia, the recommendations in terms of diet are less strict Regarding :
Meat products (500 g of your choice, excluding poultry, maximum per week, the equivalent of 3 to 4 steaks); Cold meats (150 g per week); Eggs (6 per week); Dairy products (which can be whole).
Sources
Interviews with Sophie Gougis, dietitian nutritionist, with Professor Éric Bruckert, endocrinologist at Pitié-Salpêtrière (Paris), with Dr Jean-Michel Cohen, nutritionist, and with Dr Jean-Michel Lecerf, nutritionist.
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