Too much cholesterol is bad for your health and can therefore promote diseases such as a heart attack or stroke. Foods with plenty of saturated fatty acids are particularly dangerous, as they can raise your cholesterol levels and clog your blood vessels.
Our body needs cholesterol, for example, to build cell membranes or for metabolic processes in the brain. He can produce about three quarters of the required cholesterol himself. We absorb the remaining quarter through food. The fat molecule can be broken down into three forms: HDL (high density lipoprotein), LDL (low density lipoprotein) and total cholesterol. LDL is also referred to as “bad” cholesterol because of its high lipid content and HDL as “good cholesterol” because of its lower proportion. If there is too much cholesterol in the blood, the risk of vascular calcification increases and thus the risk of having a heart attack or stroke .
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Elevated cholesterol: avoid these foods
You can tell whether a food is rich in saturated or unsaturated fatty acids by its consistency. The firmer the fat, the higher the level of saturated fat, which raises your blood lipid levels. For this reason, according to the German Society for Nutrition (DGE), saturated fatty acids should only make up about 10 percent of the daily food energy. Saturated fats are found almost exclusively in animal foods.
These include:
- Fatty sausages such as bacon, bratwurst, salami
- Cheese (> 40% fat in dry matter), butter and margarine
- Palm oil
- Pastries and baked goods with puff pastry, batter or short pastry
- Chocolate and greasy snacks like potato chips
- Finished products such as pizza or French fries
Anyone who regularly eats foods with saturated fatty acids and otherwise does not maintain a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet and regular exercise risks high cholesterol levels in the long term. Other causes of increased cholesterol levels are obesity and diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, a bile duct obstruction, hypothyroidism or liver and kidney diseases.
Also interesting: You can recognize an elevated cholesterol level by these symptoms >>
These foods lower your cholesterol
Changing your diet can help normalize your cholesterol levels. For this reason, the following foods should primarily be on your menu:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- High-fiber foods like whole grains or oatmeal
- Legumes such as peas or lentils
- Foods with plenty of omega-3 fatty acids such as oily fish, linseed oil, nuts or avocados
