We may be surprised to know that high cholesterol levels that were initially associated with the middle-aged and elderly are now increasingly appearing in the younger generation. This is because many tasty foods nowadays are laden with cholesterol, no wonder that high blood cholesterol is a trend among our younger generation now.
The American Heart Association suggests no more than 300mg of cholesterol intake daily; however, If we have heart disease or have risk factors for heart disease, like obesity, smoking and hereditary factors, then it is advisable to limit our cholesterol intake to less than 200mg daily.
If we can’t resist the temptation of delicious foods and our blood cholesterol levels are hovering between normal to high, what do you think we should do?
The good news is that high cholesterol is simple to detect and there are ways to bring it down. If our levels are high, I believe the doctor will prescribe us with some cholesterol-lowering drugs. However, for those with borderline high cholesterol levels, we can actually make some lifestyle modifications to make us better such as having regular exercises and cutting down on cholesterol-rich foods.
In addition to that, we could also consider the option of supplementing our diet with oats and barley. I understand that oats and barley contain high levels of beta-glucan, which has been acknowledged by many experts they can help us to lower and/or reduce the cholesterol levels. How it works is by binding cholesterol from the food and to reduce its absorption into our body, binds to bile acid produced from the cholesterol in our liver and to remove it from the body, and at the same time, it binds to saturated fat from our diet to reduce its absorption.
I believe with proper lifestyle modification and with the many alternative health options available to us, we should be able to keep cholesterol at bay!
Best,
Tan Kok Hui
Nutrition Made Simple, Life Made Rich