Preparing your meals at home is a great way to keep cholesterol levels low.  Some restaurants, in particular, fast food restaurants, have plenty of fat and salt in their food.  Fast food items are not, for the most part, considered nutritious.  In fact, more often than not, the cheaper the item ($.99, $1.00 meals), the more salt and fat it contains.  You may be paying for convenience, but not in a healthy way.

It’s not necessary to plan an elaborate meal that takes several hours to prepare. If you don’t have time to spend in the kitchen, there are quick and easy meals you can prepare in less than 30 minutes.  You can even whip up a salad or sandwich in ten minutes or less. You won’t have the need for more fat and salt.  When preparing healthy meals, it’s better to use fresh ingredients, if possible.  Fresh ingredients have flavor sealed in.

Prepare meals that are cholesterol -friendly and low fat.  Many of these meals are heart-healthy as well.  Chinese, raw food and vegan meals make for light food fanfare.  Herbs can add flavor to a meal.  Herbs are a great substitute for table salt, and help keep cholesterol levels low.

If you’re preparing meats, use lean meats, like poultry.  You can actually cut down your cholesterol level by removing the skin.  The skin covering is where most of the fat resides.  Select meats that have little or no  marbleized texture.  That part is also considered fat and can increase your cholesterol level. 

Fruit salads are good to eat for breakfast or an afternoon snack.  Fruit has virtually no fat and is a great choice for a cholesterol-friendly diet.  If you use fruits that brown easily on the inside, use lemon juice (just a tab) to keep the fruit fresh.  Another way fruit can be used is combine them in a blender with fresh fruit juice and a small helping of honey to make a fruit smoothie.  Smoothies are a healthy snack and a good breakfast substitute when you’re in a hurry.

Cooking healthy at home not only keeps your body healthy, it keeps your wallet healthy as well.         

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007 at 10:06 am and is filed under Cholesterol Filled Foods. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.