Fats and Cholesterol

Harvard School of Public Health has a series of well written articles on the topic of keeping the cholesterol low. In brief, the general idea is to keep reducing the saturated fats found on grocery labels that are often found in beef or animal products and increase the good fats of monosaturated and polysaturated fats that help us rid of cholesterol. Cholesterol is that which clogs our arteries and leads to heart disease. Most monosaturated and polysaturated fats are from plant sources. Nuts of all kinds are good source. A handful of nuts a day is a good dietary habit. We keep sacks or cans of various nuts by us for our nightly snack. Avacados are one of those vegetables that may be high in calories, but are good in cutting cholesterol. Onward with the guacamole! Canola oil or olive oil are the best choices for frying foods. It is better not to fry food at all. Restaurants that have used and reused their oil in deep fat fryers are good at giving us trans fatty foods that are bad for those watching cholesterol. It was advised to keep this under 2 g daily or better yet, none at all. If you smell or sense any oil to be rancid....destroy or toss the food. Hydrogenated oil like Crisco shortening is not a good choice. Consuming oil that reaches high temperatures in the cooking process is not a good choice. Eat your egg whites; go sparingly on the yolks. Yolks are where your cholesterol is stored. You are allowed one egg per day, however, not the three-egg omelet! If making omelet with three eggs, use the whites of all eggs and the yolk of one. Jim eats his eggwhites with fat free cheese in his egg mcmuffin. Eat one or more good sources of omega-3 fats every day—fish, walnuts, canola or soybean oil, ground flax seeds or flaxseed oil. Replace the beef and pork meals with fish or chicken without skin meals to three times a week.