high cholesterol

Grumpysally

Any one got any favourite recipes to share. OH just been diagnosed with raised cholesterol so now I'm faced with the challenge of making more healthy meals.
Thanks

muddled_midget

Hi
In order for a diet to be low cholesterol, it needs to be low in saturated fats (those from animals) and high in fruit and veg. I don't know what you like to eat, but spag bol made with extra lean mince and padded out with lots of veg, served with wholemeal spaghetti, or grilled fish/chicken with veg would be easy to cook. Basically following a healthy low fat diet, remembering all the other nutritional advice as well, such as reduced salt, alcohol in moderation and maintaining a healthy body mass index that will help reduce the risk of cardiovascular events that raised cholesterol puts you at risk of.
Hope this helps
midget

Red_Elle

Get yourself a vegan cookbook. A vegan diet is naturally low in cholesterol. Things like eggs are high in cholesterol, and as a vegan would not eat such things, a vegan diet would be the best way to go.

Failing that, just eat vegan 3 times a week.

There are plenty of books on Amazon, but this one is great for newbies:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0007129971/qid=1140033510/sr=8-4/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i4_xgl/026-2344691-1042856

Take a multivitamin for the time being, as if you're eating a vegan diet it's important to be well informed regarding the kind of nutrition that you need and you're unlikely to learn everything immediately.

If you want any ideas on meals, then PM me.

A great starter is vegan shepherds pie. Most major supermarkets sell veggie mince. Try to get something like Realeat, as things like Quorn may have egg produce in it, which is not good for cholesterol. Use soy sauce and marigold veg stock along with herbs and spices to flavour. Mash potatoes and mix in some soy cream and some Pure margarine (again, all available in supermarkets). Breadcrumbs, vegan cheese (Tesco or Holland and Barratt) and chives on top.

Veg lasagne: Realeat or other veggie mince, fried in pure, fried onions, tinned tomatoes, herbs, spices, soy sauce etc. Pasta (check it's not egg pasta), vegan cheese on top. Can also make a spinach and ricotta (Holland and Barratt sell fake cream cheese called Toffuti that tastes similar) canneloni/lasagne.

The basics to reduce cholesterol should be Pure margarine (can be used for cooking - the blue one is the nicest, as it tastes like butter!), soya milk/cream, cut out eggs, cut out or reduce meat (using veg replacements if available). Check the organic sections of supermarkets, as they tend to have specialist foods. Sainsbury's label all their products as vegetarian and/or vegan.

Hope this helps.

Mrs_A.

hi folks im hoping you friendly bunch on here will be able to help me out a little.
Mr A was recently diagnosed with high cholesterol and has been put on a special diet. problem is all this healthy food is blowing a huge hole in our shopping budget, have you seen the price of fish!!!!!!!!
im not falling for the trap of buying those fancy margarines etc that are proven to reduce cholesterol but im really struggling to feed him on our budget.any one got any good ideas or recipies for healthy foods that wont blow the budget.
thanks all in advance
mrs a

Gingham_Ribbon

What sorts of things has he been told to eat/told to avoid?

lil_me

http://www.cholesterolcholestrol.com/cholesteroldietnew.htm

Found this on another site, might help.

Healthy foods are expensive a lot of the time, a lot of my food budget goes on fresh fruit and veg.

My Dad is also on low cholestrol diet and searched for 'low cholestrol recipes' on google and came up with quite a lot.

Dumyat

I was at a course about cholesterol the other day. They said that exercise...or as we are supposed to say "increased physical activity" is as important as diet.

they also said that the special margarines etc were not worth buying. natural "statins" in certain foods like veggies were better.

Mrs_A.

he has to eat loads of fruits and veggies, wholemeal everything, fish and chicken, chestnuts, low fat yoghurts, baked spuds. Nothing fried, no chocolate, crisps, red meat, nuts, margarine, cheese unless very low fat, whole milk only allowed skimmed. no beer etc. you know the usuall drill he not allowed anything thats nice, no cakes etc.
i make own bread but wholemeal not great, i also home bake which is a big part of our packed lunches etc.
not very good at adapting recipees either so help please
regards
mrs a

lil_me

Garlic, a lot use the odourless tablets but my Dad eats raw garlic, I use a lot of garlic when I cook now as I got used to it when my Dad was trying to lower his cholestrol. Blueberries I remember being mentioned as a statin but Dad soon figured out he was allergic to berry fruits (he thought it was just strawberries) He used a lot of soy products too, not my favourite really.

Pink.

Hi Mrs A,

Some of the replies on these older threads might help:

Help Please, Low cholestrol diets on the cheap!

Reducing Cholestrol OS Ideas please

Pink

twink

i agree with dogrose about the exercise, mine was up a bit, i didnt change my diet but i started walking 4 miles twice a week and it certainly brought my cholesterol down, i think you need to go that distance to start burning the fats in your blood, i think thats whats different about these times, most work isnt so physical