Food Pyramid Can Help Structure A Low Cholesterol Diet

Are you ready to improve your heart health and lower your
cholesterol level? Then it's time to starting thinking
seriously about the foods you eat each day. If you're looking
for a diet plan to help you structure your low cholesterol
diet, the food pyramid is a great place to start.

The United States Department of Agriculture has refashioned the
food pyramid of the past into the MyPyramid plan which considers
age, gender and amount of physical activity you get each day.
Still, this pyramid is a good way to know how much of each food
group and what types of foods you need to eat each day to be at
your healthiest.

One of the food groups included in a low cholesterol diet is
made up of the grains you eat. You should make sure that you
eat three ounces of grains each day. Make sure that at least
half of this comes from whole grains. Whole grain products are
those that contain the bran, germ and endosperm of the grain.
The other form of grains are refined grains. The process of
refining removes the grain and bran for a finer texture
product, but also removes many of the nutritional benefits of
grains.

Food Group

Another food group that is important for good heart health is
vegetables. You should eat 2-3 cups of vegetables depending on
your gender and age. Be sure to include more dark green and
orange vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, turnip greens,
squash, sweet potatoes and pumpkins in your diet. Dried beans
and peas are also an important part of a low cholesterol diet.
Good choices include black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans
and black-eyed peas.

Fruits are another good food choice when trying to lower your
cholesterol. Again, depending on your age and gender, you
should try to include 1&1/2 - 2 cups of fresh fruits in your
diet each day. Good fruit choices for your low cholesterol diet
include berries, melons, apples and juices made of 100 percent
fruit juice.

The next food group is one that you should avoid, or eat only
sparingly. These are the oils and fats, such as butter.
Although we add these generously to our foods, it is healthier
to skip them altogether. Most people will get the recommended
amounts of oils from the foods they eat. Good sources of oils
include fish, nuts and vegetable oils. You should only consume
about 5-7 teaspoonfuls of oils each day. A final note, avoid
oils that are solid at room temperature, such as butter,
because they contain saturated fats. Eating a diet high in
saturated fats can raise your cholesterol level and should not
be included in your low cholesterol diet.

Dairy Products

Dairy products are an important addition to your diet because
they give you your needed daily calcium which is good for
strong bones. You should include 3 cups of milk, cheese or
yogurt in your diet each day. For good heart health and for
your low cholesterol diet, stick with low fat or reduced fat
dairy products.

Meats are another food group where you should watch what you
eat carefully when you are trying to eat a low cholesterol
diet. You should include 5-6 ounces of meat in your diet each
day. The best choices are fish, poultry, nuts and seeds. Eggs
are also included in this group, but if you want to lower your
cholesterol level; you should limit the number of egg yolks you
eat to 1 - 2 weekly. You should also grill your meats instead of
frying them.

If your goal is to lower your cholesterol, try using the
government's food pyramid as a guide for a low cholesterol
diet. Then make low fat or fat-free choices to help you meet
your goal.

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