Cholesterol control through food and activity
Unhealthy blood cholesterol levels can increase your risk for stroke and heart disease, as well as conditions such as atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries). If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, you can get your numbers back on track by making healthy dietary changes, being active 30 to 60 minutes most days, achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight, and becoming smoke-free.
Eat healthier
People with heart disease or diabetes are advised to limit themselves to 200 mg of dietary cholesterol per day with less than 7% of calories from saturated fat. Do that by cutting down on foods that are high in cholesterol, saturated fat and trans fat.
If you have high blood cholesterol levels:
- Limit serving sizes of lean meat and poultry to 2 to 3 servings per day (a serving is 75 g or 2 ½ oz, about the size of a deck of cards)
- Choose fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines or trout at least twice a week
- Include meat alternatives such as legumes or soy protein substitutes as part of your weekly meal plan
- Limit your whole eggs to no more than 2 per week. Replace a whole egg with 2 egg whites in baking
- Include healthy fats up to 30 to 45 mL (2 to 3 tbsp) each day. These include foods like non-hydrogenated margarine and oils
- Buy foods with little or no trans fat
- Select lower fat food items including milk products
- Include vegetables and fruit at each meal and snack
- Select whole grain products most often
This chart will help you find the cholesterol content of some common foods.
| DIETARY CHOLESTEROL CONTENT OF VARIOUS FOODS | ||
| FOOD | SERVING SIZE | DIETARY CHOLESTEROL (mg) |
| Organ Meats | ||
| Liver (beef or pork) cooked | 75g (2 ½ oz) | 266-297 |
| Kidney (beef, veal, lamb, pork), cooked | 75 g (2 ½ oz) | 360-593 |
| Meat and Poultry | ||
| Beef, various cuts, cooked | 75 g (2 ½ oz) | 46-74 |
| Pork, various cuts, cooked | 75 g (2 ½ oz) | 50-74 |
| Chicken or Turkey, various cuts, cooked | 75 g (2 ½ oz) | 56-99 |
| Ground (lamb, beef, pork, chicken, turkey), cooked | 75 g (2 ½ oz) | 53-96 |
| Meat Products | ||
| Deli Meat (bologna, ham, turkey, salami) | 3 slices (75 g) | 43-68 |
| Sausage (pork, beef, chorizo) cooked | 75g (2 ½ oz) | 52-66 |
| Weiner (pork, beef) cooked | 1 (23 g) | 19 |
| Fish and Seafood | ||
| Shrimp, cooked | 75 g (2 ½ oz) | 146 |
| Squid, cooked | 75 g (2 ½ oz) | 195 |
| Scallops | 75 g (2 ½ oz) | 41 |
| Lobster, cooked | 75 g (2 ½ oz) | 54 |
| Salmon (chum, sockeye, Chinook, Atlantic), cooked | 75 g (2 ½ oz) | 53-71 |
| Eggs | ||
| Egg yolk, large, cooked | 1 | 202 |
| Egg white, cooked | 1 | 0 |
| Milk Products | ||
| Cheese, hard and soft, all varieties | 50 g (1 ½ oz) | 34-66 |
| Milk, whole, 2% | 250 mL (1 cup) | 21-26 |
| Milk, nonfat (skim) | 250 mL (1 cup) | 5 |
| Miscellaneous | ||
| Ice cream,( rich, regular, light) | 125 mL (1/2 cup) | 21-47 |
| Sour Cream (regular, light) | 125 mL (1/2 cup) | 43-51 |
| Whipping Cream | 15 mL (1 tbsp) | 19 |
| Butter | 5 mL (1 tsp) | 10 |
| Source: Canadian Nutrient File | ||
http://www.heartandstroke.com/site/c.ikIQLcMWJtE/b.6430823/k.A5EB/Heart_Disease__Cholesterol_control_through_food_and_activity.htm
