You have to work every day to maintain healthy good and bad cholesterol levels and triglyceride levels. Eating plenty of fresh produce, proteins, grains and foods low in fat will help keep your risk level low for cardiovascular disease. There are some foods to limit or avoid to maintain your cardiovascular health. They include:
Fast Foods – Fast foods are obviously not going to be good for your cholesterol levels. Fast foods are full of saturated and trans fats. The trans fast are the worst kind for you because of all the hydrogenated oils in them. They can actually reduce your good cholesterol levels.
Oils – Oils like olive and canola oil can be good for your heart health but other oils like coconut oil and corn oil contain a lot of saturated fats.These unhealthy oils are what your fast food is cooked in and are commonly used by people in their own kitchens. These oils are foods to limit or avoid so you don’t raise your risk for heart disease.
Dairy – Saturated fats are known to raise your bad cholesterol (LDL). A lot of dairy products including whole milk are full of saturated fats and can raise your LDL cholesterol levels. It is much better to drink skim or 1% milk and make sure all your dairy items are low fat so you don’t raise your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Meats – Something interesting that has been found while studying the effect of the economy on the restaurant industry is that fast food restaurants are increasing their profits instead of losing money like other businesses. Meats including bacon, hamburger and lunch meat are full of saturated fats. If you switch out your red meat for things like ground turkey, turkey sausage or any other meats low in saturated fats, you will really help keep your cholesterol levels where they need to be and lower your risk for cardiovascular disease.
Trans Fats – Trans fats are the biggest contributor to cardiovascular disease and problems with cholesterol.
A lot of companies are taking the trans fats out of their products because of the increase in interest in eating healthy. Not all companies are doing this, though, so you should always read the labels on your food especially on baked goods like cookies and cakes and things like butter with a lot of fat.