Many foods you buy are labeled with nutrition facts, making it easy to detect and limithigh-cholesterolfoods.
But what about foods you purchase that don’t have a label, like deli meat or prepared foods?
Understanding general principles about high-cholesterol foods can help you determine which non-labeled foods might be high in cholesterol.
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Understanding Cholesterol
When cholesterol comes up in conversations about diet, the context is usually negative.
But it’s important to understand that not all cholesterols are dangerous.
In fact, the body produces certain amounts of cholesterol each day to support overall functioning.
Blood cholesterol and dietary cholesterol are not the same thing.
To follow such a diet, it’s important toread the nutrition labels on foodsbefore consuming them.
Each food label should include milligrams (mg) of cholesterol per serving.
Don’t forget to look at the serving size as well.
For these, the USDA maintains asearchable nutrient database.
This database provides cholesterol contents for many different foods.
All you have to do is use a keyword like “turkey” and go for the result.
The entry that pops up will have all of a given food’s nutrient information, including cholesterol content.
What About Fats?
This is the artery-clogging kind that can lead toheart attacksorstrokes.
The USDA recommends limiting saturated and trans fats as much as possible.
Unsaturated fats, however, can be good for the body.
According to the USDA, most of the fat in your diet should come from unsaturated fats.
Seeds, nuts, and fish are all good sources.
John Hopkins Medicine.Cholesterol in the Blood.
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.Foods to Choose to Lower Your Cholesterol.
U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025.
U.S. Department of Agriculture.Your MyPlate Plan: 2,000 Calories, Ages 14+ Years.
Xu Z, McClure ST, Appel LJ.Dietary cholesterol intake and sources among u.
S adults: results from national health and nutrition examination surveys (Nhanes),20012014.Nutrients.
MedlinePlus.HDL: The “Good” Cholesterol.
U.S. Department of Agriculture.MyPlate: More Key Topics.
