6 Healthy Eating Tips To Beat Cholesterol

Fat is a fuel source of your body.  It creates essential fatty acids which the body cannot produce.  Fatty acids help your body absorb important vitamins such as A, D, E, and K.  Moreover, it compliments your food, making it more appetizing.  Fat consists of cholesterol and many other fatty acids that give different kinds of benefits to your body.  However, consuming high fat food can create hyperlipidemia which causes ischemic heart disease and cerebral embolism.  

Risky Behaviors for Cardiovascular Disease

1. Smoking
2. High blood sugar
3. Overweight and obesity or abdominal obesity – having excessive abdominal fat around the stomach and abdomen, resulting in greater than 90 cm waist girth in men and greater than 80 cm waist girth in women.
4. Lack of exercise – having moderate exercise less than 150 minutes/week.  
5. High bold pressure
6. Abnormal blood lipid levels
7. Poor eating habits – eating food over or under set standard for your weight, including meals where over 35% of calories come from fat or meals where saturated fat exceeds 7% of calories per day.

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Healthy Eating Tips to Beat Cholesterol 

1. Avoid fried food and deep-dried food, such as deep-fried dough stick/pah-tongo, fried chicken, banana fritters, etc.
2. Avoid food with coconut milk, such as coconut curry, desserts with coconut milk, etc.
3. Use minimal oil for sautéing.
4. If need be, limit fried food or food with coconut milk to 1 dish per day.
5. Eat lean meat by removing skin and fat.
6. Eat steamed food, tomyum, spicy salad, broiled, or boiled foods.

The excessive fat from your diet will clog up your arteries and reduce blood flow, which can cause ischemic heart disease.   Therefore, an annual check-up, especially heart health screening should not be skipped under any circumstance.

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Source: 

• Good health starts with diet, reduced sweet, greasy, salty food; add more vegetables and fruits by Bureau of Nutrition

• Cholesterol and fatty acids in Thai food by Bureau of Nutrition

• Guidelines for the practice of drug therapy for dyslipidemia to prevent cardiovascular disease, 2016