Your body needs cholesterol to protect nerve cells and make it easier for them to send out the electric discharges that keep you functioning. About 25 percent of the body’s cholesterol is found in the brain. However, you don’t need to consume it: your body can produce all the cholesterol it needs to function.
Dietary cholesterol comes directly from animal foods, such as egg yolks, meat, poultry, fish, seafood, and whole-milk dairy products. Consuming these foods can raise your cholesterol levels higher than is healthy. Saturated fat raises your LDL (bad) cholesterol level more than anything else in your diet. Trans fats also raise blood cholesterol. Foods high in saturated fat generally contain substantial amounts of dietary cholesterol. Here are a few ways you can lower the cholesterol in your diet:
- Buy lower-fat versions of foods, such as dressings, mayonnaise, margarine, and cream cheese.
- Eat no more than four egg yolks per week. One large egg has about 186 milligrams of cholesterol, but it’s all in the yolk—the egg white has no cholesterol. Try substituting two egg whites for one whole egg in baked goods or using an egg substitute.
- Limit organ meat, such as liver. They are nutritious but also very high in cholesterol.
- Enjoy seafood—prepared in a low-fat way—as your main meal a few times per week.
- Make vegetarian meals occasionally. Meals with beans or soy products as the main protein source have cholesterol-lowering qualities.