The amount of cholesterol in your food is not the whole story. You have to look inside the numbers.
The top 10 worst foods for high cholesterol are usually higher in fat and sugar then they are in cholesterol. There was a time when doctors and researchers worried about all foods high in cholesterol, but that time has passed. Cholesterol by itself is not the problem. Now, when we talk about the worst foods for high cholesterol, we are talking about the worst foods for one type of cholesterol called LDL cholesterol.
Cholesterol is not bad for you by itself. It is a waxy substance that your body needs to build cell walls, and to make vitamins and some important chemical messengers called hormones. Because cholesterol is important for your health, your liver makes most of it. Only a small amount of cholesterol in your blood comes from the foods you eat. Dietary cholesterol is not the same as the blood cholesterol measured in your cholesterol level blood test.
The worst foods for high cholesterol are high in saturated fats or high in added sugar. These foods may also be high in salt if they are processed. They all increase you risk for high levels of bad cholesterol and increase your risk for arteriosclerosis and obesity:
Notice that a food not on the list is eggs. When dietary cholesterol was thought to increase bad cholesterol in your blood, food guidelines suggested limiting eggs to just a few per week. Many people limited eggs to egg whites only because cholesterol is in the yolk. Today we know that a whole egg is a healthy source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Of course, that does not include eggs fried in butter or served along with bacon or sausage.
The total amount of cholesterol in your blood test is not as important as the type of cholesterol that is high. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) is called “bad” cholesterol, but it’s not the cholesterol that makes it bad, it’s the fat that that goes along with it. Because fats can’t travel through your blood on their own, they are carried along with proteins called lipoproteins.
LDL cholesterol is bad because it contributes to deposits of fat and cholesterol inside arteries, the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to your body. These deposits are called plaque, and they can block blood flow in the arteries that supply your heart and brain, leading to heart attacks and strokes. Plaque buildup, called arteriosclerosis, can also cause peripheral arterial disease in your legs and ballooning or tearing of the main artery leaving your heart, called an aortic aneurism.
There is one type of cholesterol level that you want to be high, called your “good cholesterol.” Unlike the bad LDL type, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol removes bads cholesterol in your blood and takes it to your liver where it is stored. HDL cholesterol lowers your risk of arteriosclerosis. So, the best foods for cholesterol are foods that help keep your total cholesterol level below 200, your LDL number below 100, and your HDL above 60.
Carbohydrates are foods that your body turns into sugar for energy. High sugar foods can also be bad for heart health and increase your bad cholesterol levels. Carbohydrate foods can be healthy if they are whole foods, like vegetables or fruits. However, if sugar is added to food during processing, or you add it yourself for sweetness, it can become bad cholesterol. This happened during the period when a low-fat diet was thought to be the healthiest diet. Food manufacturers made up for the lack of flavor from fats by adding sugar.
Today we know that foods high in added sugar increase bad cholesterol. Eating high-sugar foods flood you blood with more sugar than you can use for energy, so your body produces more of the hormone insulin from your pancreas to pick up the sugar and store it away in your liver. That extra sugar is converted to fat and can lead to LDL cholesterol.
Whole foods, like fruits and vegetables, can have high levels of natural sugar, but they also have high levels of natural fiber, which slows digestion and prevents the sugar spike you get with added sugar. The amount that a food causes blood sugar to go up is called its glycemic index. Whole fruits and vegetables have a low glycemic index. Processed carbs and added sugar drinks or baked goods like donuts and frozen pizza have a high glycemic index making them bad food for cholesterol levels.
