It’s true that foods high in saturated fat can raise cholesterol, but they aren’t the only foods to blame.
Surprisingly, there is strong evidence to suggest that high-cholesterol foods do not directly raise cholesterol levels. In fact, many lifestyle factors and genetics are involved in raising cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol levels are affected by:
- Healthy nutrition
- alcohol
- Exercise habits
- stress
- Sleep hygiene
- Weight management
- Year
- Genetics
- medicine
- smoking
Improving your cholesterol can be the result of both you choosing to eat and practicing what you limit. Dive into changing and accurate drinking habits to start improving your cholesterol levels!
Adding sugar can increase LDL cholesterol, also known as “bad” cholesterol. One way this happens is through the liver. Excess sugar signals the liver to increase bad things and reduce good cholesterol.
It is difficult to drink less soda. Take your time away and find an alternative that you enjoy. Consider this personal explanation of how I stopped drinking soda.
A sober and curious life is the trend — and for good reason! Beyond the benefits of mental health, drinking less alcohol is good for your heart. In fact, the health benefits that are defined as one cup a day for women and two cups a day for men, even moderate drinking, are currently controversial.
When in doubt, it may be wise to drink more carefully. If you’re fancy, make a mocktail at home and enjoy the health benefits of less alcohol!
Related: Sign up for our newsletter and get more drinking tips in your inbox.
This may sting if you live in the south. Sweet tea is high in calories and high in sugar, but it is already known that this tends to raise “bad” cholesterol.
Sweet tea is often drunk. That is, we drink it from the habit as every meal or pickup. These daily habits are summed up and empty calories from sugar-sweetened beverages do not help either.
Beverages with sugar are known to adversely affect weight over time and increase the incidence of obesity. Both weight gain and obesity are associated with elevated cholesterol levels.
For more information, we have the best & worst bottled teas in America.
Coffee creamers are very tasty, but this “extra” one adds a fair amount of sugar and fat to your chosen cup. Creamers also tend to be dairy-based with significant amounts of saturated fat. This is a type of fat that can raise cholesterol more for some people than for others.
Consider measuring one or two cups of coffee to see how much you are actually drinking. Choose a creamer with less sugar and fat and see if it can be managed with split servings!
Be aware of the calories added from saturated fats, whether you’re drinking milk, coffee creamer, or the new kefir option. In most cases, choose the low-fat, 1%, or 2% fat option.
To add a cholesterol bonus, focus on “binding” the excess cholesterol your body produces by combining foods that contain saturated fat with high fiber options. A high fiber diet has been shown to lower “bad” cholesterol levels!
Read below for more tips on cholesterol.
