High cholesterol – should I go oil-free?

Many who are diagnosed with having high blood cholesterol levels drastically reduce their oil intake. Rather than reducing the oil intake drastically it is important to pay attention to what kind of oils one should take or avoid as there are some oils that are beneficial too.

It is important to first understand why consumption of oil should not be drastically reduced to near zero levels as doing so will very soon make you feel tired and fatigued. This happens because each and every cell of the body, and there are trillions of them, contain lipid (oil) is some form of the other, and a sudden drastic reduction of oil intake alters the cell dynamics giving rise to symptoms of tiredness and fatigue.

So if you have been diagnosed as having high cholesterol, reduce your oil intake but not drastically. The other things to do are to follow your doctor’s instructions like exercise, taking of medications, if any, and follow-up. Your doctor will also advise you on the type of oil to be taken. Typically, the doctor’s advice regarding lowering of cholesterol will be as follows:

1. Cooking oils that have low cholesterol: Canola, sunflower, safflower, sesame, groundnut and mustard oils are the good oils that one can use for cooking. Olive oil is good too, but should not be used for deep frying or prolonged cooking; instead olive oil should be used to sauté or stir fry vegetables or chicken or used raw in salad dressings. All these, if continued to be taken in limited amounts, contain monounsaturated fats that actually reduce the total cholesterol while maintaining the good cholesterol (HDL) levels.
2. Keep rotating your cooking oils: Avoid using the same type of oil for months and months. Use one oil this month and change to another the next month. Or cook one meal in one kind of oil and the other in some other oil. Rotation of oils is important in cholesterol management.
3. Avoid butter and ghee: Both are high sources of bad (LDL) cholesterol and hence should be avoided.
4. Avoid red meat: It has high amounts of animal fats that have been known to cause blood cholesterol levels to take an upward course.
5. Chicken: Chicken is a good meat to take, but with all the fat taken off it.
6. Fish: If you are a fish-eater it is beneficial to the arteries and heart to take it; but avoid its deep frying.
7. More vegetables and fruits: Consume more vegetables and fruits as they don’t contain oil.
8. Dry fruits: Almonds, cashew, pistachio if taken in limited amounts are good for the heart and do not much hamper the blood cholesterol levels.
9. Physical activity: Exercises or movements are very important. Whether you go to the gym or for walks as an exercise, be active the whole day.
10. Medications: Take prescribed medications to lower blood cholesterol as advised by the doctor.
11. Follow-up: This is very important to assess if steps taken to reduce cholesterol are working or not.

If you follow all these, your blood cholesterol level will be under control and there is no need to drastically reduce your oil intake and be a victim of tiredness and fatigue.