|
Yes,
we have to be very careful about non-veg intake with
high cholesterol levels but eating other fatty foods
in its place is not going to help the situation.
My
belief is that to reduce cholesterol we need to first
understand which foods contain high levels of cholesterol,
which foods contain saturated fat and which foods have
a very high fat content like deep fried food, pickles,
nuts etc. All these affect cholesterol levels.
 First
of all let's deal with foods with very high cholesterol
content. Non-veg foods like organ meats, liver, brain,
kidney, shrimp (small prawns) egg yolk, mutton, beef,
pork, cream of milk (whole milk) ice-cream, butter,
ghee, cheese, paneer, must be completely avoided till
you see the levels drop to at least 170. After this
you may eat any of these once in a week, at any one
meal. But now don't touch these.
You
may eat lean chicken, without skin, or fish, 2-3 times
in a week but preferably only at lunchtime. You may
eat 2 egg whites even daily, as they are a good source
of high quality protein. You need to take 500 ml of
commercially skimmed milk daily. The dairy milk with
fat removed is not good enough and is to be avoided
as far as possible.
Now
foods high in saturated fat, we can identify these as
fats that solidify at room temperature. They may be
of vegetable origin but since the type of fat is saturated
it is easily converted to cholesterol in your body.
Hydrogenated margarines or butter substitutes and other
solid fats that we use to make bakery items like cookies,
biscuits and cakes, puffs and pastries are also dangerous.
So don't liberally spread your bread with butter substitutes,
you can't use it at all till your levels are normal.
Try to use green chutney, ketchup, jam or honey on bread
but not butter of any-kind.
A
couple of marie biscuits or crackers is all that you
may have with tea but any other biscuits or cookies
must be avoided for a while. Chocolate, ice-cream and
all other creamy desserts have to be avoided too. Chocolate
is saturated fat. Coconut and coconut chutney is also
solid fat so dangerous for a cholesterol patient.
Finally
all fried foods and snacks have to be avoided as they
will contribute to the total fat intake in the diet
going up and the cholesterol level cannot come down.
Lastly nuts are again 50-60% fat content. Even if it
is unsaturated fat that they contain 100gm of nuts is
approximately 500 calories and 50-60% of this is fat.
Even roasted or boiled, it makes no difference, the
fat is inside so please avoid.
 So
you can't touch pickle or papad till your level drops
but eat your chicken and fish thrice a week. What you
need to do is follow the above rules very strictly for
3-4 months and after you strike normal levels and lose
weight you may indulge once or twice a week and maintain
your levels and weight. If you indulge now, even once
a week the levels will never come down.
A total amount of 2-3 teaspoons oil may be used daily
to season dhals, vegetables etc.
Avoid coconut oil.
|
