TOP 9 effective diets for high blood cholesterol

17 March 2022

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 figure out how to choose the right healthy food for you for each day and an approximate menu for the week if you are facing hyperlipidemia.

20 basic rules of diet for high cholesterol

Elevated cholesterol can be the cause of coronary heart disease, venous thrombosis of the lower extremities, stroke, myocardial infarction. You can prevent the serious consequences of chronic hyperlipidemia by following the simple rules below.

The diet for hypercholesterolemia should be fractional. Try to eat 5-6 small meals a day. So, 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.
With bad cholesterol, your diet should include mostly plant-based foods. Try using olive oil instead of butter when cooking.
Try to eat lean meat no more than a few times a week. With high cholesterol, recipes and menus that use poultry, veal, rabbits and lamb are best.
Proper nutrition with high cholesterol supports 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 steamed, baked, cooked foods. Frying should be completely avoided.
If you have high cholesterol, avoid foods rich in animal fats. No need to eat fat, pork, bacon, dried meat. Replace these products with cooked poultry, fish, seafood.
Increased salt in food is contraindicated in high blood pressure and atherosclerotic diseases. Try not to eat more than 5 grams of salt a day. It is best to abandon this product altogether.
It is necessary to drink at least two liters of water a day, especially with thick blood and elevated bilirubin. Elevated levels of these indicators usually indicate impaired liver and gallbladder function, leading to hyperlipidemia. Increased blood viscosity causes fixation of blood clots on lipid deposits in blood vessels. It is necessary to eat sour berries that can dilute the blood, such as cherries and gooseberries.
Sweet pastries and high cholesterol are a bad combination. Milk chocolate should also be avoided. Sugar-free oatmeal cookies, dried fruit, nuts and honey are suitable as alternative desserts. Sometimes you can treat yourself to an oriental ratluk.
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 who engage in heavy physical work. These factors are important when formulating a diet.
Be sure 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. It contains cafestol, which increases the production of endogenous cholesterol in the liver. But some experts, on the contrary, recommend drinking 1-2 cups of coffee a day, because it helps strengthen the cardiovascular system. So you can drink coffee, but don't abuse it. An alternative is a chicory drink or green tea.
Cook porridge every day. Try not to boil the cereal so that it is crumbly. Don't spice up a whole meal with a lot of butter if you have high cholesterol. For oatmeal, for example, honey and dried fruit are suitable as flavorings.
Hyperlipidemia precludes the use of fatty dairy products. Replace them with fat-free yogurts and kefir. Use low-fat yogurt and kefir as a substitute.
Products that contain harmful trans fats, such as fast food, are strictly contraindicated. Avoid chips and other snacks.
When roasting poultry, remove the skin from the surface. Because it makes food greasy and contains harmful components.
Semi-finished products and hypercholesterolemia are mutually exclusive concepts. Such products do not contain useful vitamins and minerals. Such food does not bring enough energy, but only clogs the body with ballast calories and fats.
Try not to overeat at night. Have dinner no later than two hours before bedtime. To suppress appetite before bed, it is better to drink a glass of kefir or eat a couple of dates, a handful of almonds.
Your doctor will tell you how to eat best. After weighing all the risks and comorbidities, an experienced expert will help you create the most effective diet plan. Self-medication for high cholesterol is not recommended.

Elevated cholesterol is a reversible process if you follow the above recommendations and go for regular medical checkups.

Popular diet for lowering 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 disease, hypertension and overweight. The basis of such a diet is an abundance of cheese, meat, fish and spices. However, these products are perfectly combined and have a positive effect on high cholesterol. List of foods in the diet:

Spices and herbs.
Soft cheeses such as feta.
Olive oil.
Fish, mussels, shrimp.
Bird, lamb.
Red wine in moderation.
Unleavened flatbread made of wheat flour (pitas).
Vegetables and fruits.
Greek yogurt.
Cereals.

Fatty meat, lard, sausages, sweet drinks with gas are categorically excluded from the diet. Because these products can cause high blood cholesterol. As an example, the following menu for high cholesterol, calculated for a week, was presented:

Day 1

For breakfast: three lentils fried with yogurt.
For lunch, refresh yourself with creamy broth soup with shrimp; fruit platter and salad with olives and tofu.
For dinner you can pie, stuffed with feta cubes and salad (cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, a couple of olives).

Day 2

A good start to the day is cottage cheese-buckwheat zrazy.
Lunch snack - light soup with lentils, risotto with vegetables.
Baked salmon, flavored with olive oil, with Provencal herbs will take care of the good mood in the evening.

Day 3

Morning meal - buckwheat cooked in vegetable soup.
At lunch, tuna baked with vegetables will regain strength; tomato puree soup.
For dinner: salad with chicken breast and avocado, seasoned with olive oil, pie.

Day 4

Breakfast: yogurt with chopped hazelnuts and almonds, you can add a little honey.
Light lunch meal: 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 - soup-puree of spinach leaves and asparagus with liquid sour cream; lightly cooked salmon with wild rice.
Dinner: bake a pie with small cherry tomatoes and feta, on a crust of wholemeal flour, if desired, crumble the tofu cubes.

Day 6

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

Day 7

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

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

Nutrition chart number 10

The method of cooking is mainly cooking and baking. Because high cholesterol excludes the use of fried foods. It is recommended to eat at least five meals a day in small portions. Evening snack no later than two hours before going to bed. Consumable products:

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

It is necessary to refuse the following products: butter, fatty meat, and especially desserts of red, salted and smoked fish, fatty cheeses, pickled vegetables, mustard. An example of a weekly menu if you have high cholesterol might look like this:

Early breakfast: buckwheat cooked in 1% milk, soft-boiled egg, weak green tea with milk.
Snack before dinner: a piece of boiled chicken or a fresh apple.
Lunch: vegetable soup with barley groats, 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 (for example, prunes and almonds).
Dinner: low-fat cottage cheese, boiled grated beets with apple, 1 cup low-fat milk.
At night: 1 cup of fat-free kefir.

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

Diet table number 10A

This diet has a number of limitations:

Bread - a maximum of 145 g per day.
Vegetable soups - 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, small apple.
Snack: baked apples with cottage cheese.
Lunch: steamed 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 fat-free 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 myocardial infarction and stroke increases. Therefore, at this age it is especially important to adhere to a proper diet combined with light physical activity.

Dietary table №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 caloric content of the menu is about 2570 kcal. It is necessary to eat fractional portions in six doses a day.

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

Bran.
Sea cabbage.
You can eat vegetables and fruits in large portions.
Bake or cook eggs a little, at most three pieces a week.
Buckwheat, oatmeal, barley porridge.
Honey, a couple of tablespoons a day.
Spaghetti durum, try not to overcook.

Forbidden food includes menu number 10. The approximate daily diet is as follows:

Breakfast: cooked buckwheat without oil, light cottage cheese with seasonal fruit, tea.
Snack: baked apple or dried apricots.
Lunch: stewed carrots, steamed beet 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 fatty fish) baked with a slice of lemon and thyme, boiled potatoes, weak green tea.
Before bed: a glass of 1% kefir.

A healthy lifestyle is not limited to diet. Because high cholesterol requires complex treatment. Don’t forget about physical exercise as well as long walks in the fresh air.

low carb diet

Foods excluded from the low-carbohydrate menu include:

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

In large quantities, animal proteins should be present in the daily diet, for example, fish, dairy products, lean meat. This is what a low carb menu might look like in a week:

Monday

Egg white omelette with chopped mushrooms and tomatoes;
Creamy chicken and prokica soup. Two wholemeal breads;
Pear;
Stewed veal with paprika.

Tuesday

Thin kefir pancakes with cottage cheese, raisins.
Salmon ear. Two slices of cereal bread.
Green apple.
Sauteed chicken fillet with spinach.

Wednesday

Cheesecakes with low-fat sour cream.
Water buckwheat and roasted chicken cutlet.
Orange.
Cold chicken.

Thursday

Whipped curd.
Cheese soup with chicken breast. Two whole grain toasts.
Half a grapefruit.
Unpolished rice. Steamed zucchini and carrot cutlets, fresh cucumber.

Friday

One soft-boiled egg sprinkled with grated cheese.
Fish stewed in a light creamy sauce.
Kiwi or one orange.
Cooked beans, mashed potatoes. Chicken rolls. One tomato.
Before going to bed - a glass of kefir.

Saturday

Fresh cheese and natural yogurt.
Steamed lamb meatballs and one cucumber.
Mandarin or apple.
Sea food. Arugula salad with olive oil.

Sunday

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

While following this diet, it is recommended to drink up to two liters of fluid a day. In women, a contraindication to a low-carbohydrate diet may be breastfeeding and pregnancy. Elevated cholesterol with timely detection can be successfully treated with nutritional correction. Only a doctor can finally decide what diet you should follow after a detailed analysis of your anamnesis.

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 much less used in the diet. The main product is meat that contains animal proteins. 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, because 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, flaxseed, sesame.
Mushrooms, nuts and seeds without heat treatment.
Fresh berries, vegetables and fruits.

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 to consume food mostly raw or after minimal heat treatment. This type of diet will help protect blood vessels from cholesterol and create 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 minimal carbohydrate consumption. In this sense, the body trains to produce more energy from fats and proteins. This high cholesterol diet helps reduce low density lipoprotein. At the same time, there is an increase in the levels of "good" cholesterol.

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

This diet is similar to a low carb diet. The following rules must be followed when choosing the optimal menu:

Breakfast: In the morning, try to eat up to 15 g of carbohydrates. The source can be cheese or vegetables. It is recommended to eat an omelet in olive oil with tomato, with toast with bran. Calorie content - 500-600 kcal.
You need to limit your carb intake at lunch. Nutritionists recommend eating soup with chicken meatballs (without potatoes, noodles). Keep in mind that high cholesterol suggests the consumption of vegetable soup. For another, you can eat brown rice with breast and a piece of cheese.
Dinner should contain an increased percentage of protein and fiber. Poultry or lamb, veal and green vegetables are suitable. It is better to roast the meat, and make a vegetable salad with a spoonful of olive oil.

When sticking to a ketogenic diet, the body works in an "emergency" mode, it is in a state of ketosis due to the production of ketone bodies (fatty acid derivatives). Therefore, medical supervision during such a diet is necessary. 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 controversial statement. Many doctors and experts essentially disagree on this.

Ornish's vegetarian diet

The diet was first created by Dean Ornish, Bill Clinton's personal physician. And it is based on strict control of consumed fats. 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. It’s basically vegetarian to me. This food is characterized by an increased percentage of carbohydrates in the food consumed.

Ornish diet should be combined with physical exercise, physical activity. The daily balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates is 10, 25, 75%. Recommended products 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, cheeses, cookies. It is definitely necessary to exclude red meat, leafy and pastry products, butter, mayonnaise, olives, nuts, seeds.

An example of a menu for the week can be organized as follows.

The first day

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

Other day

Breakfast: freshly squeezed orange juice, low-fat rice porridge, a glass of kefir.
Lunch: beans with mushrooms and onions, salad with tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers, topped 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.

Third day

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

Day four

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

Day five

Breakfast: apple juice, cereal mixture.
Lunch: two fish cutlets, mashed potatoes without added milk and with a piece of butter.
Afternoon snack: a cup of low-fat kefir, green apple.
Dinner: asparagus and green pea soup, weak tea.

Sixth day

Breakfast: chicory drink, low-fat cottage cheese with honey.
Lunch: boiled turkey breast with zucchini and pumpkin puree, orange juice.
Afternoon snack: oatmeal pudding, multi-grain bread.
Dinner: two sarmis stuffed with rice and vegetables, mineral water.

Day seven

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

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

Occasional fasting

Fasting is used to lower blood cholesterol. Elevated cholesterol levels can be treated with a diet with elements of complete starvation in the following way: with a lack of food, the body begins to use low-density lipoprotein reserves to gain energy for life. After only 12 hours of fasting, cholesterol, as an alternative source of energy, begins to be released into the blood and decomposed to form energy.

Approximate cholesterol starvation schedule for a week:

The first day - only freshly squeezed apple and carrot juice, diluted with water 1: 2. The second day you can drink the juice without diluting with water. For lunch you can eat 50 g of grated carrots. In the third - drink grape-apple and carrot juices. Dinner with one hundred grams of vegetable puree, and before bed - kefir.

On the fourth and fifth day, add grated vegetables and fruits, and in the evening - light fresh cheese. On the sixth and seventh day, breakfast should consist of grated vegetables and fruits, and for dinner and lunch, eat overcooked buckwheat or millet cereals. Such a strict diet can be carried out only after consulting 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 person's body. It is very important to take into account the accompanying diseases, gender, age. Only a properly designed menu is effective in preventing the severe consequences of hypercholesterolemia.