Does eating low-carbohydrates help with high cholesterol?

1. I have been following a low-carbohydrate diet for six months, with success. My husband eats with me, but now his cholesterol levels have risen considerably. Can he lower his cholesterol by eating a strict low-carb diet?

2. I have been following a low-carbohydrate diet for six months, with success. My husband eats with me, but now his cholesterol levels have risen considerably. Can he lower his cholesterol by eating strictly low-carbohydrates?

1. Linda Hogervorst, dietician: Thank you for your question. How good to read that you have lost so much weight with the help of the low-carbohydrate diet. However, it is annoying that your husband has extremely high cholesterol. A high LDL cholesterol level is undesirable because it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Fortunately, in most cases something can be done about it.

2. Linda Hogervorst, dietician: Thank you for your question. How good to read that you have lost so much weight with the help of the low-carbohydrate diet. However, it is annoying that your husband has extremely high cholesterol. High LDL cholesterol is undesirable because it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Fortunately, in most cases something can be done about it.

Low-carbohydrate diet

1. While following a low-carbohydrate diet, foods rich in carbohydrates such as cereals, legumes, fruits, certain types of vegetables, soft drinks, biscuits and sweets are avoided as much as possible. Reducing the carbohydrate intake means that the carbohydrates are (partly) replaced by proteins and fats. You could therefore say that you eat low-carbohydrate, but high-protein and high-fat.

2. While following a low-carbohydrate diet, foods rich in carbohydrates such as cereals, legumes, fruit, certain types of vegetables, soft drinks, biscuits and sweets are avoided as much as possible. Reducing the carbohydrate intake means that the carbohydrates are (partly) replaced by proteins and fats. You could therefore say that you eat low-carbohydrate, but high-protein and high-fat.

Changing lifestyle

1. Changing your husband's lifestyle can cause bad LDL cholesterol levels to drop again. Watch out for: Saturated fat. Examples of products that contain a lot of saturated fat are animal products (such as butter, full-fat cheese, sausage, fatty meat and whole milk products) and fatty, energy-rich snacks (such as biscuits, pastries, snacks and pretzels). Choose the low-fat or semi-skimmed variants (such as low-fat margarine, 20 + / 30 + cheese, low-fat meat products and low-fat / semi-skimmed milk products) and avoid fatty, energy-rich snacks as much as possible. Cholesterol: Limit the consumption of the products that contain a lot of cholesterol. Examples include egg yolks, organ meats, roes, shrimp, eel and haddock liver. Coffee: Drinking coffee is not a problem, as long as the preparation method is correct. It is important to be careful with: cafetiere coffee, espresso coffee, Turkish coffee, and cooking coffee. This coffee has not been filtered, so it still contains cafestol and kahweol. These substances increase cholesterol levels. Alcohol. Be moderate with alcohol. The advice is not to drink alcohol, but in any case no more than one glass per day. Smoking. The advice is not to smoke. Body weight too high. A too high body weight (a Body Mass Index of 25 kg / m2 or higher) also has a negative influence on the cholesterol level. Losing weight can help improve cholesterol levels. Pay extra attention to: Dietary fiber. Examples of foods that contain a lot of dietary fiber are: vegetables, fruit, grain products (such as wholemeal bread, potatoes, brown rice and wholemeal pasta) and legumes. Fish. Fatty fish is rich in omega-3 fish fatty acids. These fatty acids reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. If your husband doesn't like fish, fish oil capsules are an alternative. However, these capsules can never replicate the beneficial effects of fresh fish 100 percent. Plant sterols or stanols. An example of a product with plant sterols is Becel ProActiv. In terms of structure, plant sterols are very similar to cholesterol and therefore both names end with -sterol. Plant sterols take the place of cholesterol in the intestines. As a result, plant sterols inhibit cholesterol absorption in the intestines. Scientific research has shown that one to three grams of plant sterols per day can reduce cholesterol levels by an average of 10 percent. It is then important that your husband uses the right amount of the product (in this case Becel ProActiv) and that he uses it long enough. Exercise. Avoid sitting still. The advice is to perform moderate or vigorous intensive exercise for at least 150 minutes a week. Examples include: brisk walking, cycling, running and playing football. In addition, the elderly are advised to perform muscle and bone strengthening activities twice a week.

2. Changing your husband's lifestyle can cause bad LDL cholesterol levels to drop again. Watch out for: Saturated fat. Examples of products that contain a lot of saturated fat are animal products (such as butter, full-fat cheese, sausage, fatty meat and whole milk products) and fatty, energy-rich snacks (such as biscuits, pastries, snacks and pretzels). Choose the low-fat or semi-skimmed varieties (such as low-fat margarine, 20 + / 30 + cheese, low-fat meat products and low-fat / semi-skimmed milk products) and omit fatty, energy-rich snacks as much as possible. Cholesterol: Limit the consumption of the products that contain a lot of cholesterol. Examples include egg yolks, organ meats, roes, shrimp, eel and haddock liver. Coffee: Drinking coffee is not a problem, as long as the preparation method is correct. It is important to be careful with: cafetiere coffee, espresso coffee, Turkish coffee and cooking coffee. This coffee has not been filtered, so it still contains cafestol and kahweol. These substances increase cholesterol levels. Alcohol. Be moderate with alcohol. The advice is not to drink alcohol, but in any case no more than one glass per day. Smoking. The advice is not to smoke. Body weight too high. A too high body weight (a Body Mass Index of 25 kg / m2 or higher) also has a negative influence on the cholesterol level. Losing weight can help improve cholesterol levels. Pay extra attention to: Dietary fiber. Examples of foods that contain a lot of dietary fiber are: vegetables, fruit, grain products (such as wholemeal bread, potatoes, brown rice and wholemeal pasta) and legumes. Fish. Fatty fish is rich in omega-3 fish fatty acids. These fatty acids reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. If your husband doesn't like fish, fish oil capsules are an alternative. However, these capsules can never replicate the beneficial effects of fresh fish 100 percent. Plant sterols or stanols. An example of a product with plant sterols is Becel ProActiv. In structure, plant sterols are very similar to cholesterol and therefore both names end with -sterol. Plant sterols take the place of cholesterol in the intestines. As a result, plant sterols inhibit cholesterol absorption in the intestines. Scientific research has shown that one to three grams of plant sterols per day can reduce cholesterol levels by an average of 10 percent. It is then important that your husband uses the right amount of the product (in this case Becel ProActiv) and that he uses it long enough. Exercise. Avoid sitting still. The advice is to perform moderate or vigorous intensive exercise for at least 150 minutes a week. Examples include: brisk walking, cycling, running and playing football. In addition, the elderly are advised to perform muscle and bone strengthening activities twice a week.

Conclusion While following a (strict) low-carbohydrate diet, the saturated fat intake is high and the fiber intake is low. For your husband, it would make sense to adjust his diet in favor of his LDL cholesterol levels. The chances of success are greatest if your husband switches from a low-carbohydrate diet to a diet that meets the guidelines of the Schijf van Vijf. If you find it difficult to get started with the above points for attention, I recommend that you do this under the guidance of a dietician. Linda Hogervorst is a freelance dietician and has a master's degree in Nutrition and Health. She owns the sole proprietorship Into Food. She no longer answers expert questions for Health Net. Do you have a question about nutrition? Send an email to nutritionist Patricia Schutte Do you also have a question? Then ask one of our experts. Always go to your doctor with urgent questions, the experts are not the right person for that. They also don't make diagnoses. You can find the other conditions here. Don't miss anything anymore?

1. ]

Don't miss anything anymore?

1. ]