Heart Healthy Low Cholesterol Meats – What you Need to Know

Why Low Cholesterol Meats Are Important

Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in both men and women in the U.S. and ^{worldwide.[1]} In fact, heart disease is the cause of one in four deaths of adults in the U.S. But, you can proactively take steps to help ensure good cardiovascular health. Those same lifestyle choices that are essential for overall health are crucial to heart health as well.

In this article, we’ll identify significant risk factors for heart disease and the protocols recommended to protect you, with a focus on cholesterol.

Risk Factors for Heart Disease

The most prevalent risk factors for heart disease, which you can affect are:

• A sedentary lifestyle
• Smoking and alcohol
• High blood pressure
• High blood cholesterol
• Lack of physical inactivity
• Being overweight/obese
• Diabetes

Contributing risk factors:

• Your diet and nutrition
• Stress

Those risk factors you cannot control are heredity, gender, and aging.

Lifestyle Choices

Making the right choices in the way you approach life is critical to good health and your anti-aging regimen. Most of the risk factors cited above are within your control.

The choices we make on a moment-to-moment basis regarding our thoughts, our exercise regimen, our lifestyle, and the fuel we choose all affect our overall and cardiac health.

1. Eliminate stress. Consider relaxation techniques as they have beneficial effects on the body. Stress reduction can be achieved through a focused and intentional practice such as meditation, mindfulness, yoga, or breathing exercises.

2. Move – exercise is one of the pillars of maintaining good health. Regular activity improves the cardiovascular system, while it strengthens the immune system and stimulates the lymphatic system.

3. Eliminate bad habits, such as smoking or drinking to excess

4. Maintain a healthy body weight through proper nutrition and diet.

Proper Diet and Nutrition – Low Cholesterol Meats

High blood cholesterol is another of the risk factors that we can impact. If you have high cholesterol, the proper diet is essential. Since dietary cholesterol is only found in animal foods, you need to know healthy options for your protein intake, including low cholesterol meats such as:

Poultry:

• Skinless chicken or turkey breasts … many stores offer skinless portions, or you can remove the skin yourself before preparation. Also, consider trying fresh ground chicken or turkey prepared from white meat.
• Limit goose and duck as even with the skin removed these birds are still high in saturated fats

Pork:

• Pork tenderloins
• Ham
• Center-cut chops

When selecting pork, be sure to look for “lean” or “choice” as these will contain less saturated fat and cholesterol.

Beef:

• Only the leanest cuts of meat; the eye of round, sirloin, tenderloin, top loin
• If you absolutely must have a burger, make sure to use “lean” or “extra lean” ground beef

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates which cuts of beef can be labeled as “lean” or “extra lean,” based on their fat and cholesterol content.

Using a standard 3.5 oz. serving, “lean” applies to cuts that are no more than 10 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and 95 milligrams of cholesterol. For “extra lean,” the guidelines are 5 grams of total fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 95 milligrams cholesterol.

When selecting cuts of beef, avoid the “prime” label as these typically contain more fat.

Instead, seek out the “choice” or “select.”

Since even the leanest cuts of beef, chicken, and turkey contain some saturated fat, we suggest no more than 5 ounces daily.

The American Heart Association recommends eating fish high in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, or sardines at least twice per week.

Meeting your protein requirement can also be accomplished with dried beans, and peas, nuts and seeds, low-fat dairy products, and soy products.

Additional Protocols to Benefit Overall and Cardiovascular Health

Supplementation can also help to meet your daily requirement for vitamins, minerals, and other heart-healthy ingredients. Cardio Defender™ from EffiHealth supports cardiovascular health through its N-O boosting essential amino acids, L-Arginine and L-Citrulline, other important vitamins, COQ10, and a proprietary blend featuring Beet Root.

In addition to its extensive N-O benefits, Cardio Defender™ also supports healthy cholesterol. If you’re looking for a natural approach to support heart health, we suggest you consider Cardio-Defender™