High cholesterol: The 39p food which can lower your levels
High cholesterol is mainly triggered by eating too much fatty food and not having enough exercise. The good news is some foods can pose as an antidote to this problem. This includes a 39p vegetable readily available in the majority of grocery stores.
Having around five to 10 grams or more of this type of fibre daily lowers your LDL cholesterol.
LDL is also known as “bad” cholesterol as this type leads to the health problems, including heart disease.
Soluble fibre is not absorbed into the intestines and it can help remove cholesterol from your body by binding it.
So, if you’re looking for food to cut your levels, the National Lipid Association advises opting for foods that are high in soluble fibre.
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The UK heart charity lists sweet potato as a good option.
Generally, sweet potato contains around eight grams of total dietary fibre – both soluble and insoluble.
Insoluble fibre describes an indigestible carbohydrate that doesn’t dissolve in warm water.
Apart from fibre, sweet potatoes are also rich in beta carotene and anthocyanins, a flavonoid with antioxidant effects, reports the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
Sweet potatoes can also help you reach your daily need for potassium, which is around 12 percent.
Potassium helps with the management of sodium levels in your body, as reported by LIVESTRONG.com.
Healthy balance can prevent the thickening of blood arteries, which can be a problem caused by high cholesterol levels.
This may further lower the fatty substance in your body as the right amount of sodium can help prevent arteries from clogging up, LIVESTRONG.com adds.
If you’re looking for tips to eat the orange vegetable, baking and pairing it with other fibre-rich vegetables and legumes, such as beans and broccoli, is recommended by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
High cholesterol doesn’t cause many symptoms. So, the most reliable way to check your levels is by having a test.
You can either have blood taken from your arm or a finger-prick test, the NHS explains.
If the test confirms high levels, you will be told what to do to lower it. In some cases, people have to start taking medicine called statins.
Source: | This article first appeared on Express.co.uk