Cooking for those with high-cholesterol can be a challenge if you are unsure of what foods contain unnecessary fats. You need to watch what ingredients are added when you are cooking to ensure you keep your cholesterol low. Foods that are high in cholesterol should be added sparingly and are not recommended for a low cholesterol diet. Steer clear from these foods when cooking:
§ Butter
§ Heavy Cream
§ Veal
§ Liver
§ Egg Yolks
§ Prawns
§ Sardines
§ Pork Ribs
There are some foods however, that are ideal for those watching their cholesterol. To keep it low, it is recommended that you eat less than 300mg per day. Foods that will help lower your cholesterol are:
§ Wholegrain Cereals
§ Beans and Legumes
§ Unsaturated Fats
§ Apples
§ Soybean Products
§ Garlic
§ Onions
Aside from choosing the right foods, when cooking you should remember to reduce saturated fat in both meat and poultry. Meat needs to be included in our diets in order to keep us healthy, but too much saturated fat will give us high cholesterol and could clog our arteries, causing heart problems in the future.
There are ways you can reduce the fats in meat when you are cooking, selecting good quality meat being the optimal start. The first thing to do before cooking meats and poultry is to remove all visible fat. Try and select the meat with the least visible fat, making your job easier later on.
Try and cook the meats a day ahead of time. Stews, soup stock and boiled meat are dishes where the fat cooks into the liquid and can be refrigerated, thus removing the hardened fat from the top.
Remove skin from your poultry, preferably before you cook it. Skin has high fat levels and you can reduce a significant amount of saturated fats from removing the skin.
If you need to cook with other meats, limit your processed meats intake. Processed meats like sausage, salami, and hot dogs are high in calories as well as saturated fat and even those with reduced fat labels can be damaging to your health.
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