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JAKARTA, Suryametro.id – Untreated high cholesterol can lead to serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, and premature death. Fortunately, even small changes in your daily diet can lower the risk.
According to dietitians, some of these habits can help lower bad cholesterol levels.
1. Oatmeal breakfast
If you want to start each day healthier, try making oatmeal a part of your breakfast menu. These foods contain beta-glucan which helps lower LDL cholesterol and can make people feel full.
“As a bonus, oatmeal is also available in various forms, such as instant oats and groats oats,” says registered dietitian Kristen Fleming.
2. Increase your intake of unsaturated fats
Saturated fat can raise cholesterol levels, so adding unsaturated fat to your diet can have the opposite effect.
“Unsaturated fats are actually beneficial because they lower cholesterol and overall blood pressure while still providing energy for the body,” says Fleming.
He says that fish rich in omega-3s, such as salmon, mackerel, and tuna; nuts such as almonds, Brazil nuts, and walnuts; and vegetable oils, including sunflower, olive, corn, and walnut oils, are good sources of unsaturated fats.
4. Increase vegetable protein
If you usually eat a lot of meat, try adding some vegetarian or vegan dishes to your daily diet to help control your cholesterol levels quickly.
“A vegetarian lifestyle not only helps with weight loss, but also helps lower LDL cholesterol,” said Fleming, citing a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
“The risk of heart problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease can be significantly reduced,” Fleming added.
4. Increase fiber intake
Fiber intake can help lower cholesterol levels quickly. “Fiber in whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables is known to help reduce cholesterol and should be part of a varied diet,” says Eleana Kaidanian, a registered dietitian. “Soluble fiber is very strong because it has the ability to absorb cholesterol into the bloodstream, specifically it can bind to cholesterol in the intestines and prevent its absorption.”
5. Intermittent fasting
If you have high cholesterol, intermittent fasting is the easiest way to get a healthier balance of LDL (bad fat) and HDL (good fat) numbers.
The most popular rule is the 16-8 fasting period, where eat for eight hours and drink only water for 16 hours.
“Early research suggests that intermittent fasting may be a strategy for lowering total cholesterol and bad LDL cholesterol and increasing good HDL cholesterol,” says dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, citing a 2018 study published in ESPEN’s Clinical Nutrition.
(tempo.co)
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