I used to really hate salads and I would avoid them at all costs. As far as I was concerned, salads meant strips of bland iceberg lettuce mixed with a few chopped tomatoes, slices of cucumber and some sort of oil and vinegar dressing. If I had salad with a meal when eating out, I would invariably leave most of it and hide the remnants under my knife and fork. And I just couldn’t understand why people would want to order a salad on its own as a main meal in a restaurant – it just baffled me!
Seeds are packed with dietary fibre and healthy fats, which can help to lower cholesterol. They are also a good source of protein and full of all sorts of other nutrients, making them a great addition to meals, or eaten on their own as a snack.
Oatcakes are a brilliant base for a snack, because oats contain soluble fibre, which helps to lower cholesterol. They’re also low in saturated fat and if you combine them with other healthy foods, you can make a really nutritious, filling snack.
Curries are one of my favourite things to eat, so I make them a lot. As I’m trying to reduce my cholesterol, I add as many cholesterol-lowering ingredients as I can to my meals. Curries are great for this, because you can add things like chickpeas, ground flaxseeds and vegetables, and the curry tastes just as good. And the vegetables count towards your five a day, which is an added bonus.
Houmous is a great food to eat if you’re watching your cholesterol. I love the plain houmous you get from the supermarket, but make my own whenever I can to make it healthier, and it also means I can add extra cholesterol-reducing ingredients.
Reducing the amount of saturated fat in your daily diet can help to lower your cholesterol. Look out for the ‘Saturates’ or ‘sat fat’ number on food nutrition labels. It’s best to mostly eat foods with less than 1.5 grams of saturated fat (per 100 grams).
I love cooking, but don’t have a huge amount of time to prepare meals during the week as I commute to London every day. When I get home from work, I have about 40 mins before my husband gets home. So I like to set myself a bit of a challenge to cook a healthy meal from scratch using whatever’s in our fridge, and have it ready for when he gets home. It doesn’t always turn out brilliantly admittedly – there have been more than a few occasions when my husband has had to fake a smile when I’ve presented him with something that resembles the dog’s dinner!
Snacking is a great way to include foods in your diet that will help to lower your cholesterol, like oats, apples and beans. And eating regularly throughout the day also helps to stabilise your blood sugar and keep your metabolism ticking along.
I got a big wake up call in February. I went for a Vitality health check, mainly because I wanted to complete the non-smokers test to get cashback on my health insurance. I eat a pretty balanced diet, have a healthy BMI (21), don’t drink too much alcohol and I’m fairly active, so I wasn’t too worried about the results.
I got a big wake up call in February. I went for a Vitality health check, mainly because I wanted to complete the non-smokers test to get cashback on my health insurance. I eat a pretty balanced diet, have a healthy BMI (21), don’t drink too much alcohol and I’m fairly active, so I wasn’t too worried about the results.
apples-and-beans 