There are two types of cholesterol, often referred to as “good” and “bad”. Good cholesterol is high-density lipoprotein, which helps remove cholesterol from the body. While bad cholesterol – low-density lipoprotein – is what contributes to blockages.
He said: “Having more high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol helps to absorb low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and take it to the liver so it can be disposed of.
“Although foods don’t specifically contain HDL, certain foods can boost the levels of HDL cholesterol in your body, which in turn lowers the levels of LDL in the body.
“A great dietary tool for lowering cholesterol is to consume soluble fibre – which improves your HDL levels.
“Statistically, most of us adults don’t reach the recommended guideline of 20-35 grams of fibre per day, which could be contributing to the high cholesterol levels that many people have.”
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Mr Parsad advised eating a specific breakfast full of soluble fibre.
“Soluble fibre, found in many fruits and vegetables, oats, barley, whole grains and legumes, is able to bind cholesterol in the digestive system and remove it from the body before it is circulated through the body, causing issues,” he said.
“Soluble fibre is a fantastic food for the good bacteria in the gut and helps them to multiply and maintain a diverse and balanced microbiome.
“A great way to add more soluble fibre into your diet is to have an oat-based breakfast cereal with a fruit topping, giving you a great boost first thing in the morning.”
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He also believed gut health was “crucial” to maintaining cholesterol levels.
He said: “Secondly, it’s important to be aware of how crucial gut health is to your cholesterol levels.
“Evidence has shown that the gut microbiome (the good and bad bacteria within your gut) is linked to the amount of HDL cholesterol in the body.
“This means ensuring you have a balanced, diverse, and healthy gut microbiome is crucial to maintaining good cholesterol levels.
“Probiotics are a great way to ensure you have a healthy gut microbiome, as they add new strains of good bacteria to the gut.
“This leaves less room for the bad bacteria to multiply and cause issues within the body.
“As we know, the gut being healthy improves the levels of HDL cholesterol, so taking a probiotic supplement or eating probiotic foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, pickles or kombucha can go a long way to healing and maintaining the gut.”
Generally a healthy level of total cholesterol in the blood is considered to be five or less millimoles per litre (mmol/l).
