Читать книгу DASH Diet For Dummies - Sarah Samaan - Страница 43

Your doctor, your family, and even your TV set are always nagging you about cholesterol. Why do they care, and what exactly is the stuff, anyway? Cholesterol is a waxy substance that comes from your diet but is also made by your body. Although it’s often lumped in with fats, it’s technically a lipid, a broader category that also includes fats. There’s a lot of confusion between dietary cholesterol and the cholesterol made by your body, so we want to clear things up.

Everyone’s body creates some cholesterol. Some people are genetically super-producers; others naturally manufacture pretty meager amounts of the stuff. That’s why cholesterol in the diet doesn’t have a huge influence on the cholesterol level in the blood. It’s the type of fat in the diet that you want to focus on. Metabolic studies have long determined that a high level of saturated fat in the diet leads to higher cholesterol levels in the blood. Always check out the amount of saturated fat on the food label. Fiber also helps reduce blood cholesterol levels, especially the soluble fiber found in plant foods. Total recommended fiber intake (insoluble and soluble) is 25 to 35 grams per day. Eating 5 to 10 grams of soluble fiber (barley, oats, quinoa, beans, legumes, vegetables, fruits) a day has been shown to reduce cholesterol by 5 to 10 points or more. Learn more about fiber in Chapter 12.