Cholesterol gets a bad rep. When people here that word they immediately think about clogged arteries, heart attacks and high blood pressure. But the truth is, not all cholesterol is bad for you. There is good cholesterol (HDL) and there’s bad cholesterol (LDL).
The good cholesterol is needed by your body to function at its best. However, the bad cholesterol is what you should watch out for because it’s responsible for all those things we mentioned. However, bad cholesterol is hard to avoid in our Malaysian diet, so it’s important to pay attention to what we eat.
After all as parents, you want to stay fit and healthy to be there for your kids through all their important life moments. That said, here are some foods high in bad cholesterol that you should avoid or reduce to live a longer, healthier life.
High Cholesterol Foods You Should Avoid
Cooking Oil
Cooking oil or vegetable oil is a staple in every kitchen. We use it in our food almost every day. But they can also be full of bad cholesterol.
Many vegetable oil contain unsaturated fats which oxidise when heated. When this happens they endanger our health by triggering inflammation. Resulting in blood-vessel plaques that we know so well when talking about heart attacks.
Some vegetable oils to avoid include palm oil, coconut oil, corn oil, peanut oil and sunflower oil (when heated at high temperatures). The best oils to use are olive oil, avocado oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil and flaxseed oil.
Baked Goods
We cannot live without our baked goods. However, some of them are high in bad cholesterol, especially if they’re deep fried or contain a lot of trans fats.
Cookies, cakes, donuts, potato and chips, and yes, roti canai, etc may all contain high levels of LDL. Unless you make them yourself using good cholesterol ingredients, then there’s a high chance that they can be unhealthy for you.
So take any chance you get to make your own baked goods. This way you can make the necessary modifications to the recipe for a healthier, cleaner diet.
Animal Fat
Animal products are another notorious source of bad cholesterols. And one that we as Malaysians have a much more difficult time eliminating from our diet.
Pork and beef are high in cholesterol, and chicken as well if you eat the skin. Of course it gets worse if you tend to cook these animal products by deep-frying in oil.
However, Malaysian rarely cook with straight up animal fat like lard, tallow or Schmaltz (duck fat), so it’s not really something that we really need to worry about. Probably the only animal product you don’t have to worry about is fish. Sardines for instance have a high level of good cholesterol.
Dairy Products
Food items that contain whole milk are often guilty of raising bad cholesterol (LDL) levels. And unfortunately this does include things like butter and cheese.
Those two decadent ingredients are often the main star of many Italian dishes which we all love. And we use milk and cream in our coffee and tea everyday. So dairy products are often unavoidable.
If you can’t live without them, opt for low-fat or skimmed milk. These may be less fulfilling, but they do reduce your cholesterol intake.
Lower Those Cholesterol Levels
It’s kind of unfair that all the delicious things are often the most unhealthy for us.
But there’s always a way to eat well without sacrificing pleasure and taste. Even plant-based meals can be delicious, and for children too.
However, as much as we hate to admit it, everything tastes so much better with butter and cheese.
And you don’t have to go cold turkey. Just reduce your consumption by half.
When you make healthier choices for you, you also do so for the rest of your family.
A healthy family is a happy family. And the best place you can start making changes is in the kitchen.
For more insightful stories and fun recipes, stay tuned to Motherhood Story!