9 Tips for Limiting Cholesterol in Food

You don’t have to be a nutritionist to know that you shouldn’t eat fries and fried chicken on a regular basis. They’re loaded with sodium and saturated fat — and a diet high in saturated fat and trans fat can raise blood cholesterol levels, putting you at risk for heart disease, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).

Many foods that come from animals — like meat and fat-containing dairy products — contain saturated fat, while baked goods and fast food pack in trans fat, too. Because LDL (“bad’) cholesterol levels in particular can be too high on a high-saturated-fat diet, the AHA recommends that saturated fat make up no more than 5 to 6 percent of your total calories. On a diet of 2,000 calories a day, no more than 120 should come from saturated fat. That’s 11 to 13 grams (g) of saturated fat per day at most.

It’s worth noting that the thinking has changed about what increases cholesterol in the body. There is now no specific recommendation limiting the amount of cholesterol you get from food. That’s because research has shown dietary cholesterol itself isn’t harmful and actually doesn’t contribute to increased levels of cholesterol in the body. Rather, the real culprits are saturated fat, trans fat, and added sugars.

But it’s still important to pay attention to the amount of cholesterol you get from foods, as foods high in cholesterol also tend to be high in saturated and other unhealthy fats.

Here are nine tips to help you limit how much cholesterol you’re eating so you can maintain a healthy diet.

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