Contrary to conventional wisdom, cutting your intake of fatty foods may not actually help you lower your cholesterol levels.

In fact, there are those who have actually lowered their blood cholesterol levels while still on a high cholesterol diet. This is because there are different types of cholesterol, and some types of cholesterol are actually good for your body (I will not be discussing the different types of cholesterol in this entry).

However, one thing is for sure. If you DO NOT cut down on your intake of simple sugars and carbohydrates, you ARE VERY LIKELY to continue having high cholesterol levels. In addition, you will be putting yourself at higher risk of heart diseases.

This is because when you consume too much sugar in your daily diet, your liver actually converts the excessive sugar into fats (and cholesterol is a type of fat) for storage in the body. These fats, known as triglycerides, contribute to the blockage and hardening of arteries, as well as other cardiovascular diseases.

An analysis of over 6,000 adults who participated in an ongoing National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2006 found that the more sugar the participants ate, the higher their triglycerides, and the lower their HDL (HDL refers to the healthy version of cholesterol, and the lower the proportion of HDL, the more likely you are to have “unhealthy cholesterol”).

So if you are really serious about lowering your unhealthy cholesterol levels, look toward cutting your intake of sugars FIRST.

I will touch on some of the foods to eat to support your efforts at lowering unhealthy cholesterol in my next blog entry. Stay tuned!

References
[1] http://www.insights-on-health.com/how-to-lower-cholesterol-naturally-a-holistic-perspective/2/
[2] http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20100420/high-sugar-diet-linked-lower-good-cholesterol

Cindy L. TJOL is trained in Psychology, Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has several years of experience writing on natural health on the internet. Follow her on her blog and read her other articles at Insights On Health.com.