TOP 9 effective diets for high blood cholesterol

17 March 2022

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

20 basic nutritional rules for high cholesterol

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

Nutrition for hypercholesterolemia should be fractional. Try to eat 5-6 small meals a day. Thus, there is no increase in appetite and risk of overeating after a long period of fasting.
Eat vegetables and fruit anytime 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 to use olive oil instead of butter when cooking.
Try eating lean meat more than a few times a week. With high cholesterol, recipes and menus using poultry, beef, rabbit and lamb are best suited.
Proper nutrition with high cholesterol is supported by exercise. Gentle walks of at least three kilometers a day are recommended for people with high levels of low-density lipoprotein.
The diet for hypercholesterolemia should consist of steamed, baked, boiled foods. Frying should be avoided altogether.
If you have high cholesterol, avoid foods that are high in animal fat. No need to eat lard, pork, bacon, salami. Replace these products with boiled poultry, fish, seafood.
An increased level of salt in the diet is contraindicated in high blood pressure and atherosclerotic diseases. Try to eat no more than 5 grams of salt per day. It is best to abandon this product completely.
It is important to drink at least two liters of water per day, especially with thick blood and elevated bilirubin. An increase in the level of this indicator usually indicates a violation of the function of the liver and gallbladder, which leads to hyperlipidemia. An increase in blood viscosity triggers the fixation of blood clots on lipid deposits in the blood vessels. It is important to eat acidic fruits that thin the blood, such as cherries and gooseberries.
Sweet pastries and high cholesterol is a bad combination. Milk chocolate should also be avoided. As an alternative dessert, sugar-free oatmeal cookies, dried fruits, nuts and honey are suitable. Sometimes you can treat yourself to some oriental Turkish delights.
Daily calorie requirements for women and men vary - on average 2200 kcal and 2600 kcal. An increase in calorie intake is also necessary for people who do heavy physical work. These factors are important when formulating a diet.
Be sure to refrain from alcohol abuse. Red wine is allowed, but no more than two glasses per 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, on the contrary, 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. An alternative is a chicory drink or green tea.
Cook porridge every day. Try not to boil the cereal, leaving it crumbly. Do not season the finished dish with a lot of butter if you have high cholesterol. For oatmeal, for example, honey and dried fruit are suitable as a flavoring.
Hyperlipidemia does not include the use of fatty dairy products. Replace with fat-free yogurt and kefir. Instead, use low-fat yogurt and kefir.
Products containing harmful trans fats, such as fast food, are strictly contraindicated. Avoid chips and other snacks.
When cooking poultry, remove the skin from the surface. Because it makes the dish more fatty and contains harmful components.
Semi-finished products and hypercholesterolemia are mutually exclusive concepts. In such a product there are no useful vitamins and minerals. Such food does not carry enough energy, but simply clogs the body with calories and fat weights.
Try not to overeat at night. Have dinner at least two hours before bedtime. To suppress appetite before going to 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 best. After weighing all the risks and co-morbidities, an experienced specialist will help develop the most effective nutrition plan. Self-medication for high cholesterol is not recommended.

Cholesterol elevation is a reversible process if you follow the above recommendations and have regular medical checkups.

Popular diets to lower cholesterol in women and men

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

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

mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet, which lowers cholesterol levels, is recommended for people with atherosclerotic disease, hypertension, and being overweight. The basis of such nutrition is cheese, meat, fish and abundant spices. Nevertheless, these products combine perfectly and have a positive effect on high cholesterol. List of foods in the diet:

Spices and spices.
Soft cheeses such as feta.
Olive oil.
Fish, shellfish, prawns.
Birds, sheep.
Red wine to taste.
Unleavened flatbread made from wheat flour (pitas).
Vegetables and fruits.
Greek yogurt.
Cereals.

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

Day 1

For breakfast: three slices of lentil fritter seasoned with yogurt.
For lunch, refresh yourself with the tender Brussels sprouts soup with prawns; fruit plate and salad with olives and tofu.
You can have a pita for dinner, stuffed with feta cubes and a salad (cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, some olives).

Day 2

A great start to the day is zrazy buckwheat curd.
Lunch snacks - light soup with lentils, risotto with vegetables.
A good mood in the evening will be provided by grilled salmon, seasoned with olive oil, with Provence herbs.

3rd day

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

Day 4

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

Day 5

Breakfast: oatmeal on water, with the addition of honey and raisins.
Energizing for lunch - soup-mashed spinach and asparagus leaves with liquid cream; lightly poached salmon with wild rice.
Dinner: baked pie with small cherry tomatoes and feta, on oat crust, optional cubed tofu crumbs.

Day 6

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

Day 7

For breakfast: pour roasted pumpkin with yogurt and honey.
Lunch: champignon chowder and chanterelles; chicken, grated with garlic, with sweet pepper in the oven.
Dinner: boiled rice with scallops and prawns.

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

Diet table number 10

The cooking methods are mainly boiling and grilling. Because high cholesterol does not include the use of fried foods. It is recommended to eat at least five times a day in small portions. Snack at least two hours before bedtime. Products that can be consumed:

Fresh vegetable juices, jellies.
Wheat bread.
Fresh vegetable salad.
Eggs without yolk.
Fish: tuna, salmon, carp.
Fat-free cottage cheese, kefir and yogurt.
Kashi.

The following products should be refused: butter, fatty meats, and especially red foods, salted and smoked fish, fatty cheeses, pickled vegetables, mustard. A sample menu for the week if you have high cholesterol might look like this:

Breakfast: buckwheat cooked in 1% milk, boiled eggs, weak green tea with milk.
Snack before dinner: a piece of boiled chicken or a fresh apple.
Lunch: vegetable broth with wheat groats, mushrooms and finely chopped zucchini, grilled salmon or carp with boiled vegetables (for example, bell peppers, onions, zucchini), 1 glass of fresh apple juice.
Snack: rosehip tea, nuts and dried fruit (eg, prunes and almonds).
Dinner: low-fat cottage cheese, boiled grated beets with apples, 1 glass of low-fat milk.
Evening: 1 cup fat-free kefir.

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

Diet table number 10A

This diet has a number of limitations:

Bread - maximum 145 g per day.
Vegetable broth - up to 180 ml.
Cheese, pearl barley and millet uses are excluded.
Do not eat very hot or cold food.

The 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, small apples.
Snack: baked apples with cottage cheese.
Lunch: steamed chicken slices, mashed potatoes without oil, half a glass of fresh apple juice.
Afternoon snack: prunes or dates.
Dinner: carrot-apple cutlet baked in the oven, half a glass of fat-free kefir.
Before going to bed: half a glass of rosehip tincture or a drink of chicory.

After the age of 50, more than 35% of people have high cholesterol. As a result, the risk of developing 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.

10C diet diet table

Table No. 10C is a therapeutic diet for lowering cholesterol. This way of eating is recommended for people diagnosed with coronary heart disease and high blood pressure, which is triggered by atherosclerosis. This menu is dominated by vegetable fats, dietary fiber, foods with high vitamin B, PP, C content. The daily calorie content of this menu is about 2570 kcal. It is important to eat fractional portions of six doses per day.

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

Bran.
sea cabbage.
Vegetables and fruit can be eaten in large portions.
Bake or boil eggs lightly, up to three pieces a week.
Buckwheat, oatmeal, barley porridge.
Honey, a few spoonfuls a day.
Spaghetti durum, try not to overcook.

The foods that are forbidden are included in the menu of a type of food number 10. The estimated daily diet is as follows:

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

A healthy lifestyle is not only limited to diet. Because high cholesterol levels require complex treatment. Do not forget about physical exercises, as well as walks in the fresh air.

low carb diet

Foods that are excluded from low-carb menus include:

Sweet pastries, white bread.
Sugar and fructose, honey.
Alcohol and sugary 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. This is what the low-carb menu looks like for the week:

Monday

Egg white omelet with chopped champignons and tomatoes;
Creamy Chicken and Brussels Sprouts Soup. Two whole grain breads;
Pear;
Beef stew with peppers.

Tuesday

Thin pancakes on kefir with cottage cheese, raisins.
salmon ears. Two slices of cereal bread.
Green apple.
Boiled chicken fillet with spinach.

Wednesday

Cheesecake with low fat sour cream.
Buckwheat on the water and grilled chicken pieces.
Orange.
Cold chicken.

Thursday

whipped curd.
Cheese soup with chicken breast. Two whole grain breads.
Half grapefruit.
Unpolished rice. Steamed zucchini and carrot slices, fresh cucumber.

Friday

One half-cooked egg sprinkled with grated cheese.
Fish stewed in a light cream sauce.
Kiwi or one orange.
Boiled beans, mashed. Chicken rolls. One tomato.
Before going to bed - a glass of kefir.

Saturday

Cottage cheese and natural yogurt.
Steamed lamb meatballs and one cucumber.
Mandarin or Apple.
Seafood. Arugula salad with olive oil.

week

Steamed omelet with chicken breast.
Grilled turkey fillet with broccoli.
A glass of 1% kefir.
Rabbit stewed with vegetables (onions, zucchini, bell 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 breastfeeding and pregnancy. High cholesterol with timely detection can be successfully treated with nutritional correction. What type of diet you need to follow, only the attending physician can finally decide after a detailed analysis of your history.

paleo diet

The Paleo diet includes the foods that our Stone Age ancestors ate before the development of agriculture. A large amount of animal protein is the basis of prehistoric nutrition. At the same time, carbohydrates and fats are used in the diet much less. Its main product is meat, which contains animal protein. It is he who accelerates metabolic processes and helps prevent the accumulation of excess fat.

Paleo diet is suitable for lowering cholesterol in the blood, because the consumption of animal fats is reduced. It is recommended to eat every five hours, approximately 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, nuts 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. These types of nutrients will help protect blood vessels from cholesterol and plaque formation. Elevated low density lipoprotein levels can return to normal if the paleo diet principles are adhered to.

keto diet

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

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

This diet is similar to a low-carb diet. When choosing the optimal menu, you should 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 advisable to eat an omelet in olive oil with tomatoes, adding toast with bran. Calorie content - 500-600 kcal.
At lunch, you need to limit carbohydrates. Nutritionists recommend eating soup with chicken meatballs (without potatoes, noodles). Note that high cholesterol suggests eating vegetable broth. For the second, you can eat brown rice with breast and a piece of cheese.
Dinner should contain an increased percentage of protein and fiber. Poultry or lamb, veal and green vegetables can be used. It is better to grill meat, and make a salad from vegetables with a spoonful of olive oil.

When following a ketogenic diet, the body works in an "emergency" mode, being in a state of ketosis due to the production of ketone bodies (fatty acid derivatives). Therefore, medical supervision during such nutrition is necessary. Despite the associated risks, elevated cholesterol levels are normal during the keto diet.

Some argue that diet will do little to lower cholesterol and recommend the use of statins. A very controversial statement. Many doctors and experts basically disagree with this.

Ornish Vegetarian Diet

This diet was first created by Dean Ornish, Bill Clinton's personal doctor. And it is based on strict control of the 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 important to combine Ornish nutrition with physical exercise, physical activity. The daily balance of fat, protein and carbohydrates, respectively, is 10, 25, 75%. Products recommended for use:

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

Just eat eggs, dairy products, cheese, cakes. It is categorically necessary to exclude red meat, puff and pastry products, butter, mayonnaise, olives, nuts, seeds.

Sample menu for this 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, greens and iceberg lettuce, green apples.
Snack: apricots or prunes (3 pieces), other seasonal fruit, low-fat cottage cheese.
Dinner: two whole-grain toast, an apple or pear, durum wheat spaghetti topped with low-fat cheese, berry compote.

The second day

Breakfast: fresh orange juice, rice porridge with low-fat milk, a glass of kefir.
Lunch: beans with mushrooms and onions, salad with tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers, topped with olive oil.
Afternoon snack: strawberries, rye bread.
Dinner: two slices of bran bread, half an avocado, buckwheat porridge stewed with mushrooms and carrots, green tea.

The third day

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

The fourth day

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

Fifth day

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

Sixth day

Breakfast: chicory drink, fat-free cottage cheese with honey.
Lunch: boiled turkey breast with zucchini and pumpkin puree, orange juice.
Afternoon snack: oatmeal pudding, multigrain bread.
Dinner: two cabbages stuffed with rice and vegetables, mineral water.

Seventh day

Breakfast: a slice of cottage cheese casserole with raisins, chicory.
Lunch: 2 lentils and carrot slices, rice.
Snack: 3 baked cheesecakes, orange juice.
Dinner: apple stuffed with cottage cheese and dried apricots, chamomile tea.

High cholesterol with strict adherence to the rules of this diet can return to normal. Regularity and self-control are essential to achieving results.

Intermittent fasting

Fasting is used to lower blood cholesterol. It is possible to treat elevated cholesterol levels with a diet with elements of complete starvation in the following way: with a lack of food, the body begins to use its reserves of low-density lipoprotein to obtain energy for life. 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.

Schematic of forecasting hunger due to cholesterol for a week:

The first day - only fresh 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. The third - drink grape-apple and carrot juice. Eat it with a hundred grams of vegetable puree, and before going to bed - kefir.

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

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