People with high cholesterol must watch their diet carefully, but that doesn’t mean mealtimes can’t still be enjoyable.
High cholesterol is a serious health condition characterised by excessive fatty deposits building up in the blood vessels.
If a blockage forms in an artery supplying the brain, it can trigger a stroke; should a blockage develop in an artery feeding the heart muscle, a heart attack can result.
Once diagnosed with borderline or high cholesterol, making dietary changes becomes essential to protect against potentially fatal cardiac or cerebral events.
To help reduce cholesterol levels, leading charity Heart UK has shared one of the best sandwich options for lunch, reports Surrey Live.
View 2 ImagesWholemeal, granary or rye bread are great bread choices(Image: Getty)
- Serves: one
- Time to make: 5 minutes
Ingredients
- Two slices of wholemeal, granary or rye bread
- 30g low-fat cheese spread, such as Philadelphia
- Three walnuts, finely chopped
- Quarter stick of celery, finely diced
- Black pepper
Method
Spread the cheese on both slices of bread, season one side with pepper, and sprinkle the walnuts on top.
Add the celery, then place the slice of bread on top of the other to make a sandwich. Quarter the sandwich, and enjoy.
The NHS advises that straightforward dietary swaps can make a substantial difference to cholesterol levels. For example, foods high in saturated fats should be swapped for those rich in unsaturated fats.
Foods to avoid that are high in saturated fats
- Meat pies, sausages and fatty meat
- Butter, lard and ghee
- Cream and hard cheese, like cheddar
- Cakes and biscuits
- Food that contains coconut oil or palm oil
Foods to eat more of
- Oily fish, like mackerel and salmon
- Olive oil, rapeseed oil and spreads made from these oils
- Brown rice, wholegrain bread and wholewheat pasta
- Nuts and seeds
- Fruits and vegetables
Other crucial lifestyle adjustments include giving up smoking, reducing alcohol consumption, and having regular cholesterol checks.
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It is also vital to increase physical activity to help bring down cholesterol levels; health experts recommend that everyone completes at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week.
This can be broken down into daily brisk walks, cycling, or swimming – any activity that gets your body working hard.
“Try a few different exercises to find something you like doing,” the NHS says. “You’re more likely to keep doing it if you enjoy it.”