Why is Cholesterol Metabolism Important?

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Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

When you hear the word cholesterol you often think of clogged arteries.Â So the word cholesterol definitely gets a bad rap.Â Believe it or not cholesterol plays a very important role in our bodies and maintaining good health.Â What cholesterol does, it produces bile acid which is used to help digest our fat intake.Â It is actually the amount of cholesterol in our diets that can cause negative health problems.

Cholesterol metabolism refers to the body’s ability to break down cholesterol, thus preventing it from being stored as plaque.Â There are many factors that need to be learned about cholesterol and the role that cholesterol plays on our health.

Cholesterol can be found in many different foods that we eat.Â Some of these foods provide good cholesterol, while others have the bad cholesterol in them.Â A diet that is high in bad cholesterol can lead to problems in the coronary arteries.Â Some studies have shown that there is a link between Alzheimer’s disease and coronary artery disease.Â Foods that are high in fat and sugar contribute to bad cholesterol levels.

It is important to know that we can control cholesterol levels with foods that provide cholesterol metabolism.Â We need to know that we need to limit the amount of fatty foods that we eat.Â Foods like ice cream, butter and the fatty meats need to be limited in our diets.Â The general rule with meat is if it contains the word “rib”, stay away from it. Fatty fish, soy protein, and oat bran can all work as cholesterol metabolism agents. Eating balanced quantities of these foods could prevent you from having to take cholesterol lowering medication.

Choosing The Right Foods For Cholesterol Metabolism

Fatty fish contain the heart healthy Omega 3 fatty acid. This can help lower triglycerides when eaten as part of a healthy diet. Some examples of fatty fish are tuna, salmon, sardines, and mackerel. It is important to eat these fish broiled and not fried. Frying negates the healthy aspect of these fish. Grilling is a good way to add flavor while maintaining a healthy balance of Omega 3.

Butter and margarine are two fats you will want to avoid as much as possible. There are now alternatives available that provide you with a tasty spread without sacrificing taste. Some of these alternative spreads contain healthy olive oil and some are actually made with yogurt.

A fantastic cholesterol metabolism food is oatmeal.Â Most of the time people only eat oatmeal as a breakfast food, but yet it can be incorporated into many foods at other meals.Â One example of doing this, would be when making meatloaf, using lean ground meat and adding oatmeal as a filler.Â You can add oat bran and oatmeal into homemade rolls and bread as a way of getting fiber into your diet.Â You can even put oatmeal in a blender and use it as a healthy coating for meat to replace bread crumbs.

Instead of eating beef you should try venison.Â A lot of processing houses will give you the venison just for the cost of processing.Â Venison has low fat content, which makes it a healthier choice for meat consumption.

If you make smart choices in your diet and with careful planning you should be able to avoid cholesterol build-up in your arteries.Â To get good cholesterol metabolism you do not have to give up taste in order to have a heart healthy diet.