Ten dietary taboos for women with high cholesterol

1. Fat from pigs, cattle and sheep, refined lard, butter and other animal oils

2. Brains, pork liver, chicken kidneys, intestines and other animal offal

3. Processed meat products such as bacon, sausages, luncheon meats, and cured fish and bacon

4. Cream cakes, cookies, shortbread and other highly processed pastries

5. Trans-fat foods containing non-dairy creamer, creamer, and margarine (such as instant coffee mate, cheap milk tea milk caps)

6. Crab roe, fish roe, dried squid, dried cuttlefish and other high-cholesterol aquatic products

7. Home-cooked dishes that are heavy in oil and sugar, such as braised in brown sauce, fried in griddle, and stewed in sauce.

8. High-sugar sweet drinks such as cola, bottled fruit drinks, and full-sugar milk tea

9. Eat three meals a day consisting of refined carbohydrates such as white rice and flour.

10. Any form of excessive drinking (including so-called "low-alcohol health wine" such as rice wine, fruit wine, and sparkling wine)

Don’t tell me, I’ve met many patients whose first reaction after receiving this list was, “I don’t eat fatty meat and offal at all, so why are my cholesterol levels still high? ”Last week, there was a 31-year-old e-commerce operator whose low-density lipoprotein was 1.4 times higher than the normal upper limit. She patted her chest and said she hadn’t touched braised pork in half a year. When asked, she ordered a cup of full-sugar bubble milk tea every afternoon, and her breakfast was always a puff pastry sandwich and croissant from the convenience store downstairs. The trans fat and added sugar in these two items can raise bad cholesterol much more efficiently than two pieces of braised pork.

At this point, I just want to mention two mainstream views on cholesterol in the academic community: Older nutrition scholars believe that dietary cholesterol directly affects serum cholesterol levels, and the intake of high-cholesterol foods must be strictly limited.； However, many new studies in recent years have shown that healthy people have their own cholesterol regulation mechanism. Dietary cholesterol intake only accounts for about 20% of total serum cholesterol, so there is no need to be too strict. But no matter which view they hold, all scholars have reached a consensus - women over 35 years old whose metabolism has slowed down and have developed dyslipidemia will have varying degrees of failure in this regulatory mechanism, so the above 10 types of foods must still be controlled.

Many people tend to overcorrect. For example, they don’t dare to touch a bite of seafood when they see aquatic products listed in the taboos. This is completely unnecessary. Deep-sea fish rich in Omega-3, such as salmon and sardines, can actually help reduce bad cholesterol levels. What you need to avoid is high-density cholesterol-rich aquatic products such as crab roe, fish roe, and dried squid. I used to have a 42-year-old sister who heard others say that she would not gain weight by eating seafood for protein supplements. She ate charcoal-grilled shredded squid as a snack for watching dramas every day. After three months of review, her cholesterol level increased by 2.1mmol/L. I regretted it so much.

Another invisible mine that everyone is completely unaware of is refined carbohydrates. I recently met a 58-year-old aunt who has been on a vegetarian diet for three years. Her cholesterol is higher than that of my wife who eats braised pork every day. After careful questioning, I found out that she eats two large bowls of white rice every day. She also likes to boil rock-sugar snow pear and white fungus syrup for afternoon tea. When excessive intake of refined carbohydrates, the excess sugar will be directly converted into triglycerides and cholesterol in the liver, which is more subtle than the impact of eating two bites of fatty meat.

Oh, by the way, I would like to say a separate comment on the question that people often ask about whether eggs should be eaten: There is no need to throw away the egg yolks. The current guidelines have been updated a long time ago. It is perfectly fine for women with dyslipidemia to eat one whole egg a day. The lecithin in the egg yolk can also help regulate blood lipids. Unless you have familial hypercholesterolemia, you need to control it to less than three egg yolks per week. Don't listen to the old idea that eating egg yolks raises cholesterol.

There are also many girls who like to cook at home because they think it is healthier than outside. They add two tablespoons of rock sugar to the braised pork ribs and add a spoonful of lard to stir-fry the vegetables. The saturated fat in animal oil can account for more than 40%. Long-term consumption will directly stimulate the liver to synthesize more bad cholesterol. My general advice to patients is to switch to olive oil and tea seed oil at home. The oil used for cooking should be controlled to less than 1 spoon of ordinary porcelain spoons. It is more effective than any number of lipid-lowering health products you eat.

Finally, I would like to add a word of truth: taboos do not mean that you cannot touch even one bite. If you are craving for a piece of cream cake occasionally, or eat two pieces of crab roe at a dinner party, it is absolutely fine. Your body’s metabolism will not have much impact. Don’t worry about taboos every day. A bad mood will affect your metabolism, and the gain will not be worth the loss. As long as the frequency of intake of these 10 types of food is maintained no more than once a week for a long time, coupled with half an hour of brisk walking or yoga every day, most people's cholesterol can slowly return to normal levels.