TOP 9 effective diets for high blood cholesterol

17 March 2022

The therapeutic diet for high blood cholesterol is the main link in the treatment of this disease. Think about how you can avoid excess fat and cholesterol in your diet. We will learn how to choose the right healthy food for yourself for each day and an approximate menu for a week if you are facing hyperlipidemia.

20 basic rules for eating high cholesterol

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

Nutrition in hypercholesterolemia should be partial. Try to eat 5-6 small meals a day. Thus, there is no increased appetite and risk of overeating after a long fast.
Eat vegetables and fruits at any time and in large quantities. Dietary fiber accelerates the excretion of excess cholesterol from the body.
In case of bad cholesterol, the diet should contain mainly foods with vegetable fats. Try using olive oil instead of butter when cooking.
Try to eat lean meat no more than a few times a week. For high cholesterol, recipes and menus with poultry, beef, rabbit and lamb are best.
Proper nutrition with high cholesterol is supported by sports. Light walks of at least three kilometers a day are recommended for people with elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein.
The diet for hypercholesterolemia should consist mainly of stewed, baked, cooked food. Frying should be avoided completely.
If you have high cholesterol, avoid foods high in animal fats. No need to eat lard, pork, bacon, smoked meats. Replace these products with boiled poultry, fish, seafood.
Elevated salt levels in the diet are contraindicated in high blood pressure and atherosclerotic diseases. Try to eat no more than 5 grams of salt a day. It is best to completely give up this product.
It is necessary to drink at least two liters of water a day, especially with thick blood and increased bilirubin. Elevated levels of these indicators usually indicate impaired liver and gallbladder function, leading to hyperlipidemia. The increased viscosity of the blood provokes the fixation of blood clots on the lipid deposits in the vessels. It is necessary to eat sour fruits that can dilute the blood, such as cherries and gooseberries.
Sweets and high cholesterol are a bad combination. Milk chocolate should also be avoided. As an alternative dessert, sugar-free oatmeal cookies, dried fruit, nuts and honey are suitable. Sometimes you can pamper yourself with oriental Turkish delight.
Daily calorie needs for women and men vary - an average of 2200 kcal and 2600 kcal, respectively. Increased calorie intake is also necessary for people engaged in heavy physical labor. These factors are important in formulating a diet.
Remember to refrain from alcohol abuse. Red wine is allowed, but no more than two glasses a week.
Coffee is a controversial ally in the fight against high cholesterol. Contains cafestole, 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 it helps strengthen the cardiovascular system. So you can drink coffee, but do not abuse it. An alternative is a drink of chicory 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 oil if you have high cholesterol. For oatmeal, for example, honey and dried fruits are suitable as a flavoring.
Hyperlipidemia precludes the use of fatty dairy products. Replace them with skim yogurts and kefir. Use low-fat yogurt and kefir as a substitute.
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 fatter and contains harmful components.
Semi-finished products and hypercholesterolemia are mutually exclusive. Such products do not contain useful vitamins and minerals. Such food does not bring enough energy, but only clogs the body with fiber and calories.
Try not to overeat at night. Have dinner no later than two hours before bedtime. To suppress your appetite at bedtime, 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 comorbidities, an experienced specialist will help develop the most effective diet plan. Self-medication for high cholesterol is not recommended.

High cholesterol is a reversible process if you follow the above recommendations and undergo regular medical checkups.

Popular diets to lower cholesterol in women and men

A cholesterol-lowering diet can be based on a combination of different foods. To significantly reduce blood cholesterol levels, it is important to follow 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 ones will help.

Mediterranean diet

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

Spices and herbs.
Soft cheeses like feta.
Olive oil.
Fish, mussels, shrimp.
Bird, lamb.
Red wine in moderation.
Unleavened flat bread made of wheat flour (pita).
Vegetables and fruits.
Greek yogurt.
Cereals.

Fatty meats, lard, sausages, sweet drinks with gas are strictly excluded from the diet. Because these products can cause high blood cholesterol. An example is the following menu for high cholesterol, calculated for one week:

Day 1

For breakfast: three pieces of fried lentils flavored with yogurt.
For lunch, refresh yourself with Brussels sprouts cream soup with shrimp; fruit platter and salad with olives and tofu.
You can have pie pie stuffed with feta cubes and salad (cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, a few olives).

Day 2

A good start to the day is boiled buckwheat zrazy.
Breakfast for lunch - light soup with lentils, risotto with vegetables.
Roasted salmon flavored with olive oil and herbs from Provence will provide you with a good mood in the evening.

Day 3

Morning food - buckwheat, cooked in vegetable broth.
At noon, tuna roasted with vegetables will restore strength; tomato puree soup.
For dinner: salad with chicken breast and avocado, flavored with olive oil, pie.

Day 4

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

Day 5

Breakfast: oatmeal in water, with the addition of honey and raisins.
Provides energy for lunch - spinach leaf puree soup and asparagus with liquid cream; lightly boiled salmon with wild rice.
Dinner: bake a pie with small cherry tomatoes and feta, on whole grains, optionally diced tofu.

Day 6

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

Day 7

For breakfast: pour roasted pumpkin with yogurt and honey.
Lunch: cream soup of mushrooms and chanterelles; chicken, grated with garlic, with sweet pepper in the oven.
Dinner: wild rice stew with mussels and shrimp.

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

Dietary table number 10

The method of cooking is basic cooking and baking. Because high cholesterol precludes the use of fried foods. It is recommended to eat at least five meals a day in small portions. Evening breakfast no later than two hours before bedtime. Products that can be consumed:

Freshly squeezed vegetable juices, jellies.
Whole grain bread.
Fresh vegetable salads.
Eggs without yolk.
Fish: tuna, salmon, carp.
Low-fat cottage cheese, kefir and yogurt.
Porridge.

It is necessary to give up the following products: butter, fatty meat and especially red, salty and smoked fish delicacies, fatty cheeses, pickled vegetables, mustard. An example menu for a week, if you have high cholesterol, might look like this:

Early breakfast: buckwheat, boiled in 1% milk, soft-boiled egg, weak green tea with milk.
Breakfast before dinner: a piece of boiled chicken or a fresh apple.
Lunch: vegetable broth with barley meal, mushrooms and finely chopped zucchini, roasted salmon or carp with stewed vegetables (eg peppers, onions, zucchini), 1 glass of fresh apple juice.
Snack: rosehip tea, nuts and dried fruits (eg prunes and almonds).
Dinner: low-fat cottage cheese, boiled grated beets with apple, 1 cup low-fat milk.
At night: 1 cup skim kefir.

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

Dietary table number 10A

This diet has a number of limitations:

Bread - a maximum of 145 g per day.
Vegetable broths - up to 180 ml.
The use of cheese, pearl barley and millet is excluded.
Do not eat extremely hot or cold foods.

Diet chart number 10, which has a positive effect on high cholesterol, looks like this for every day:

Breakfast: chopped oatmeal with 1% milk, green tea, a small apple.
Snack: baked apples with cottage cheese.
Lunch: stewed chicken cutlets, mashed potatoes without oil, half a glass of fresh apple juice.
Afternoon snack: prunes or dates.
Dinner: carrot and apple cutlets baked in the oven, half a cup of skim kefir.
Before going to bed: half a cup of rosehip tincture or chicory drink.

After the age of 50, more than 35% of people have high cholesterol. As a result, the risk of progression of atherosclerotic disease and the occurrence of myocardial infarction, stroke increases. That is why at this age it is especially important to adhere to proper nutrition in combination with light physical activity.

Dietary mass №10C

Table No. 10C is a therapeutic diet for lowering cholesterol. This diet is recommended for people diagnosed with coronary heart disease and high blood pressure caused by atherosclerosis. This menu is dominated by vegetable fats, dietary fiber, foods high in vitamins B, PP, C. The daily calorie content of the menu is about 2570 kcal. It is necessary to eat small portions in six doses a day.

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

Bran.
Sea cabbage.
Vegetables and fruits can be eaten in large portions.
Bake or boil the eggs a little, a maximum of three pieces per week.
Buckwheat, oatmeal, barley porridge.
Honey, a few spoonfuls a day.
Spaghetti hard, try not to overcook.

Prohibited foods include menu number 10, similar to food. The approximate daily diet is as follows:

Breakfast: boiled buckwheat without oil, light boiled table with seasonal fruits, tea.
Snack: baked apple or dried apricots.
Lunch: stewed carrots, stewed beetroot cutlets, 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: Seasonal vegetable salad with olive oil and seaweed, salmon (another oily fish) baked with a slice of lemon and thyme, boiled potatoes, weak green tea.
Before going to bed: a glass of 1% kefir.

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

low carb diet

Foods excluded from the low-carb menu include:

Sweet pastries, white bread.
Sugar and fructose, honey.
Alcohol and sweet drinks with gas.
Pasta and potatoes.
Milk chocolate.
Sweet fruits like grapes.

In the daily diet should be present large amounts of animal protein, such as fish, dairy products, lean meat. Here's what a low-carb menu for a week might look like:

Monday

Protein omelette with sliced champignons and tomato;
Creamy soup with chicken and Brussels sprouts. Two wholemeal breads;
Pear;
Stewed veal with pepper.

Tuesday

Thin kefir pancakes with cottage cheese, raisins.
Salmon ear. Two slices of wholemeal bread.
A green apple.
Stewed chicken fillet with spinach.

Wednesday

Cheesecakes with low-fat sour cream.
Buckwheat in water and roasted chicken cutlet.
Orange.
Cold chicken.

Thursday

Broken cottage cheese.
Cheese soup with chicken breast. Two wholemeal toasts.
Half a grapefruit.
Unpolished rice. Steamed zucchini and carrot cutlets, fresh cucumber.

Friday

A soft-boiled egg sprinkled with grated yellow cheese.
Fish stewed in a light creamy sauce.
Kiwi or an orange.
Boiled beans, puree. Chicken rolls. One tomato.
Before going to bed - a glass of kefir.

Saturday

Cottage cheese and natural yogurt.
Steamed lamb meatballs and a cucumber.
Tangerine or apple.
Seafood. Arugula salad with olive oil.

Sunday

Steamed omelette with chicken breast.
Turkey fillet roasted with broccoli.
A glass of 1% kefir.
Rabbit stewed with vegetables (onions, zucchini, sweet pepper).

Following this diet, it is recommended to take up to two liters of fluid per day. In women, a contraindication to a low-carbohydrate diet may be breastfeeding and pregnancy. High cholesterol with timely detection can be successfully treated with dietary adjustments. What kind of diet you should follow, only the attending physician can finally decide after a detailed analysis of your history.

paleo diet

The Paleo diet includes 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. The main product is meat, which contains animal protein. It is the one that speeds up metabolic processes and helps prevent the accumulation of excess fat.

The paleo diet is suitable for lowering blood cholesterol, as it reduces the consumption of animal fats. It is recommended to eat every five hours, approximately three meals a day. The main permitted products are:

Fat-free meat and poultry.
Seafood, fish.
Oils: olive oil, flaxseed, sesame.
Mushrooms, nuts and seeds without heat treatment.
Fresh fruits, vegetables and berries.

Sugar and salt, legumes and cereals, dairy products, vegetables with starch (potatoes, sweet potatoes) are excluded from the diet with such a diet. It is recommended that foods be consumed mostly raw or after minimal heat treatment. This type of diet will help protect blood vessels from the formation of cholesterol and plaque. Elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein can return to normal if the principles of the paleo diet are followed.

Keto diet

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

While on a ketogenic diet, avoid bread, sugar, pasta, fruits and pastries. In the absence of carbohydrates, the body begins to intensively break down fat reserves.

This diet is similar to a low carb diet. When choosing the optimal menu, you must use the following rules:

Breakfast: Try to consume up to 15 g of carbohydrates in the morning. The source can be cheese or vegetables. It is recommended to eat an omelet in olive oil with tomatoes, adding toast with bran. Calorie content - 500-600 kcal.
At lunch you should limit carbohydrates. Nutritionists recommend eating soup with chicken meatballs (without potatoes, noodles). Keep in mind that high cholesterol implies consumption of vegetable broth. For the second you can eat brown rice with breast and a piece of cheese.
Dinner should contain a high percentage of protein and fiber. Poultry or lamb, beef and green vegetables are suitable. It is better to roast meat and make a vegetable salad with a spoonful of olive oil.

Following a ketogenic diet, the body operates in an "emergency" mode, being in a state of ketosis due to the production of ketone bodies (derivatives of fatty acids). Therefore, medical supervision is required during such a meal. Despite the associated risk, elevated cholesterol is normalized during the keto diet.

Some claim that diet will do little to lower cholesterol and recommend taking statins. A very contradictory statement. Many doctors and experts disagree.

Ornish vegetarian diet

The diet was first created by Dean Ornish, Bill Clinton's GP. And it is based on strict control of fat consumption. No more than 20 grams of fat per day is allowed. This diet is indicated if a person is diagnosed with hyperlipidemia, atherosclerosis and obesity. In general, the menu is vegetarian. This food is characterized by an increased percentage of carbohydrates in the food consumed.

It is necessary to combine Ornish's diet with exercise, physical activity. The daily balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, respectively, is 10, 25, 75%. Products recommended for use:

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

Eat in moderation eggs, dairy products, cheese, cookies. It is absolutely necessary to exclude red meat, puff pastry and pasta, butter, mayonnaise, olives, nuts, seeds.

An example menu for the week can be arranged as follows.

First day

Breakfast: chicory drink, a tablespoon of wheat bran added to low-fat yogurt.
Lunch: a few large potatoes baked with tomatoes, cucumber salad, greens and green iceberg lettuce, green apple.
Snack: apricots or plums (3 pieces), other seasonal fruits, low-fat cottage cheese.
Dinner: two wholemeal toasts, apple or pear, durum wheat spaghetti sprinkled with low-fat cheese, berry compote.

Second day

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

Day three

Breakfast: decaffeinated coffee, a glass of muesli with berries and low-fat milk.
Lunch: soup with slices of pumpkin and spinach, couscous with vegetables, vinaigrette without pickles.
Afternoon snack: a glass of kefir, low-fat cookies.
Dinner: roasted eggplant halves with onions and carrots, a bowl of seasonal fruits, mint tea.

Day four

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

Day five

Breakfast: apple juice, cereal porridge.
Lunch: two fish cakes, mashed potatoes without added milk and a little butter.
Afternoon snack: a glass of low-fat kefir, green apple.
Dinner: asparagus and green pea soup, weak tea.

Day six

Breakfast: chicory drink, skim cottage cheese with honey.
Lunch: boiled turkey breast with zucchini and squash puree, orange juice.
Afternoon snack: oatmeal pudding, multigrain bread.
Dinner: two cabbage sprouts stuffed with rice and vegetables, mineral water.

Day seven

Breakfast: a piece of cottage cheese casserole with raisins, chicory.
Lunch: 2 cutlets of lentils and carrots, rice.
Snack: 3 roasted cheesecakes, orange juice.
Dinner: apples stuffed with cottage cheese and dried apricots, chamomile tea.

High cholesterol with strict adherence to the canons of this diet can return to normal. Regularity and self-control are very important for achieving results.

Periodic fasting

Fasting is used to lower blood cholesterol. It is possible to treat high cholesterol with a diet with elements of complete starvation as follows: in the absence of food, the body begins to use low-density lipoprotein reserves to obtain energy for life. Even after 12 hours of fasting, cholesterol, as an alternative source of energy, begins to be released into the blood and broken down to produce energy.

Approximate schedule of cholesterol fasting for one week:

The first day - only freshly squeezed apple and 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. In the third - drink the juice of grapes and carrots. Have dinner with a hundred grams of vegetable puree, and before bed - kefir.

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

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