Cholesterol, often misunderstood, plays a crucial role in our bodies, but too much of it can be harmful to our health.
In this article, we’ll explore what cholesterol is, the differences between endogenous and exogenous cholesterol, the influence of hormonal changes on its production, and how we can lower cholesterol quickly.
If you are taking tamoxifen or inhibitors and your cholesterol has risen…
Hormone therapy sometimes causes changes in cholesterol and triglyceride levels. I’ll explain what to do based on symptoms (without extreme diets) and how to organize your eating habits.
Finally, you have a diet plan for high cholesterol. Remember that if you have high levels of uric acid, triglycerides, are overweight, or are a cancer patient, you can request a consultation at Nutrición Vive, and we will create a personalized nutrition plan for you.
WHAT IS CHOLESTEROL?
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance found in all cells of the body.
It is essential for the production of hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help digest food.
Endogenous and Exogenous Cholesterol:
Our body produces all the cholesterol we need, but we also get it from the animal-based foods we eat.
While we worry about dietary cholesterol, most of the body’s cholesterol does not come from the diet but from our own endogenous production.
Endogenous cholesterol production is stimulated in some situations:
- Estrogens play an important role in cholesterol regulation. During menopause, estrogen levels decline, which can lead to an increase in endogenous cholesterol production. This hormonal change can increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women.
- Tamoxifen is a medication used to treat breast cancer in women and men. One of the possible complications of tamoxifen treatment is an increase in blood cholesterol (due to estrogen blockade), although this does not occur in everyone who takes it. In another article, we discuss tamoxifen and its possible side effects, as well as the risk of weight gain due to hormone therapy.
- Abdominal fat increases the production of endogenous cholesterol.
- Hypothyroidism: An underactive thyroid means the body removes less LDL cholesterol from the blood. This can lead to high levels of LDL and total cholesterol.
Cholesterol Test:
When we eat animal products, we ingest cholesterol that circulates in our blood and is transported by two types of proteins: HDL and LDL. These proteins are what people call “good cholesterol” and “bad cholesterol”, because HDL helps eliminate it, while LDL increases the risk of its accumulation.
It’s important to consider that LDL is only one part of bad cholesterol, so calculating non-HDL cholesterol, which includes all “bad” cholesterol, is much more accurate. We’ll see “how to lower bad cholesterol” at the end.
Therefore, in the blood test we should look at total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. With these values, we can calculate risk factors. We would not be at cardiovascular risk when:
👀 The total cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio is <4.5
👀 The triglyceride level is less than twice the HDL level.
It is important to avoid excess cholesterol in the blood, since hypercholesterolemia increases the risk of diseases such as heart attacks, angina, stroke….
FOODS THAT CONTAIN CHOLESTEROL
A common misconception is that cholesterol is found in fats, leading some people to wonder: “If I don’t eat fats, why is my cholesterol high?” There can be several reasons:
1. Excessive consumption of animal products:
Everything we eat of animal origin contains cholesterol to a greater or lesser degree: meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products. Only animal fats like lard or butter contain cholesterol. Vegetable fats like olive oil and sunflower oil do not contain cholesterol.
It’s important to clarify that cholesterol content refers to 100g of food, and the portion size consumed must be taken into account. For example, butter contains cholesterol, but it’s usually consumed as a spread on toast, so the amount is small: about 5- 10 g. In contrast, a typical serving of squid is 120- 150 g.
2. Fiber deficiency:
Vegetables such as fruit, vegetables, legumes, and nuts contain fiber; fiber helps to reduce the absorption of fats, and therefore also of cholesterol (2).
3. Excessive consumption of processed foods:
Cookies, pastries, sausages, snacks….
DIET TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL
Red MENU:
Breakfast: coffee and pastries
Between meals: a small snack of cured meats, coffee with biscuits
Food: Steak with fries, bread, and yogurt
Dinner: fried eggs with potatoes and sausages, bread, chocolate mousse.
Animal-based and processed foods predominate, with a clear absence of vegetables, resulting in high cholesterol content and absorption. Furthermore, the salt content of some of these foods increases cardiovascular risk.
Green MENU :
- Breakfast: coffee and wholemeal bread with tomato and extra virgin olive oil.
- Snacks: avocado and tuna toast, coffee, nuts
- Lunch: Salad and chicken with a side of vegetables, bread and fruit
- Dinner: Gazpacho and/or cream of vegetable soup with a mushroom scramble, yogurt with fruit and seeds.
The presence of vegetables, and therefore fiber, is important here, as it reduces cholesterol levels and absorption. Nuts, especially almonds, improve HDL (good) cholesterol. Furthermore, nuts, along with extra virgin olive oil, contain monounsaturated fatty acids that help lower cholesterol.
WEEKLY MENU TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL
Here’s a sample weekly menu with plenty of options to help lower cholesterol, but if you need a personalized nutrition plan, contact Nutrición Vive. All the recipes featured in the cholesterol-lowering diet can be found at nutricionvive.com/recetas.
BREAKFAST
OPTION 1: Dairy, WHOLE WHEAT bread with tomato 🍅 and extra virgin olive oil
OPTION 2: Coffee ☕, fat-free yogurt with whole-grain oat flakes
OPTION 3: Fat-free fresh cheese smoothie with apple
OPTION 4: Coffee ☕ with kiwi cake (Recipe)
SNACK: OPTIONS: Fruit 🍎, nuts 🥜, yogurt, coffee ☕
DAY 1
LUNCH :
- Option 1: Salad 🥗 with avocado 🥑 or grilled asparagus + stewed chickpeas
- Option 2: Salmorejo and fish salad 🐟 with asparagus + fruit 🍏
DINNER :
- Option 1: Gazpacho 🥣 or artichokes with garlic and chicken bites 🍗
- Option 2: Salad 🥗 and chicken skewer 🍢 with peppers
- Yogurt with chia or flax seeds
DAY 2
LUNCH :
- Option 1: Pasta 🍝 with mushrooms 🍄, 1 egg, and tuna
- Option 2: Salad 🥗 and fish paella 🥘
- Option 3: Rice 🍚 with 2 fried eggs 🍳 and Padrón peppers
- Fruit 🍉
DINNER :
- Option 1: Tomato 🍅 and sardine toasts; anchovies with peppers
- Option 2: Mixed salad 🥗 and a can of sardines
- Yogurt, or fresh cheese, or fruit
DAY 3
LUNCH :
- Option 1: Lentil pasta and ratatouille 🌱 + salad 🥗
- Option 2: Salad 🥗 and chickpea hummus with carrot sticks 🥕 + fruit 🍇
DINNER :
- Option 1: Carrot cream 🥕 with ginger and hake with asparagus
- Option 2: Zucchini stuffed with tuna and egg 🍳 with zucchini béchamel sauce
- Yogurt or fresh cheese with apple compote 🍎
DAY 4
LUNCH :
- Option 1: Russian salad with peas and tomato and sardine 🥗 toast 🍅
- Option 2: Vegetable puree 🥣 or salad 🥗 and fish with potatoes
- Yogurt or fresh cheese with apple compote 🍏
DINNER :
- Carrot cream soup 🥕 or salad 🥗
- Boiled eggs stuffed with zucchini béchamel or chicken with ratatouille 🍗
- Yogurt or fresh cheese
DAY 5
LUNCH :
- Green beans in salad 🥗 or in a sauté
- Chicken 🍗, turkey, or rabbit with roasted pepper
- Fruit 🍓
DINNER :
- Option 1: Cod with ratatouille 🐟 or vegetable stew with chicken 🍗
- Option 2: Consommé 🍲 or sautéed onions with marinated tofu
- Yogurt or fresh cheese with apple compote 🍎
DAY 6
LUNCH :
- Option 1: Red cabbage with garlic and roast beef with peppers 🍖
- Option 2: Mashed potatoes 🥣 or salad 🥗 and marinated tofu
- Option 3: Broccoli 🥦 with turkey tacos
DINNER :
- Option 1: Carrot cream 🥕 and 2 boiled eggs 🍳
- Option 2: Gazpacho 🥣 and oily fish 🐟 with salad
- Yogurt or fresh cheese or fruit
DAY 7
LUNCH :
- Option 1: Stewed lentils or soybeans with mixed salad 🥗
- Option 2: Peas with potatoes 🥔, ratatouille, and salad
- Fruit 🍍
DINNER :
- Option 1: Pasta salad 🍝 with tuna
- Option 2: Toast with ratatouille and chicken 🍗/ Toast with scrambled mushrooms 🍄
- Yogurt or fresh cheese or fruit
CONCLUSION:
Managing cholesterol is a vital aspect of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Understanding the difference between endogenous and exogenous cholesterol, as well as the effects of hormonal changes, is crucial.
With the right strategies, including a healthy diet and exercise, and avoiding abdominal fat, we can effectively control our cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of related diseases.