Bust the Cholesterol Myth

What really affects your cholesterol numbers?
What is cholesterol?  We all have cholesterol in our bodies, a fat like substance that's part of our cells.  You might already know your LDL ('bad cholesterol) and HDL ('good" cholesterol numbers and that high LDL can leaf to heart disease but dietary cholesterol the kind found in foods like eggs, shrimp and other proteins doesn't actually affect our cholesterol levels.  Recent research has shown that there's no evidence to support that eating foods with cholesterol causes heart disease.

So what does contribute to heart disease?  Dietary cholesterol isn't the enemy, but saturated fat is.  We now know that a diet high in saturated fat can contribute to high LDL cholesterol and heart disease.  To keep your own cholesterol levels in a healthy range, be mindful of sat fat amount in different foods, check the nutritional labels of packaged foods for that information.

FACT: Animal sources account for most dietary sat fat, but some plant based foods have high levels too, coconut oil, for instance actually has over 11 grams of sat fat per Tbsp - even more than butter (7.3g)!

Check the image below for some quick sat fat numbers!
From Weight Watchers Weekly 10/15/2017 - 10/21/2017



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

10 Ways to Burn 200 Calories (*based on a 135lb woman)

Speak up for yourself

How To Get Started On An Exercise Program