The Irish Heart Foundation offers some great advice for anyone who needs to keep their cholesterol in check for the coming months.
Christmas is approaching, and it can be hard to stay on track with the annual binge of food and alcohol.
According to health experts, there is actually one food – if eaten twice a week – that can naturally help lower cholesterol.
Among the list of things that can lower your figure, they recommend eating oily fish twice a week. This can be trout, sardines, pilchards, eel, white bait, mackerel, herring or tuna.
Other simple things you can do include ensuring you are at a healthy weight if needed, are more physically active every day, and eat more fruits and vegetables, as well as:
- Eat more wholegrain cereals, bread, pasta and rice
- Choose a potato jacket
- Choose lean meats
- Remove fat from meat and chicken skin
- Drain the oil from cooked dishes that contain minced meat
- Choose low-fat dairy products
- Choose low-fat spreads made with sunflower or olive oil
- Choose foods below the top shelf of the food pyramid
- Use healthy, low-fat cooking methods, such as grilling or baking in the oven, instead of frying
People with high cholesterol need to be especially vigilant about how they feel because «bad cholesterol» sticks to the inside of the arteries, increasing the risk of a blockage that could lead to a heart attack.
According to health experts, although there are no obvious side effects, people should be wary of a number of signs that indicate high levels.
These include:
- Painful cramps in the legs
- Numbness or weakness in the legs
- Slow hair growth on legs
- Coldness in the lower leg or foot on one side
- weak pulse in the legs;