Lower Cholesterol Naturally With Cheese

Go gourmet? Skip fat-free? You won't believe this deliciously healthy news about cheese!

Eating cheese can be heart healthy. Women who ate a serving a day (about the size of four dice) had higher HDL (good cholesterol) and lower LDL (bad) than those who ate less, according to a study at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Men didn't reap the same benefits, possibly because they tend to pick cheeses with more saturated fat and salt.

To please your palate and your heart:

• Stick to part-skim. Slimmed-down versions of mozzarella, Cheddar, and other cheeses have less saturated fat but just as much taste -- and you don't have to sacrifice good-for-your-arteries calcium and essential fatty acids.


• Skip fat-free products. Most are loaded with sodium to make up for lost flavor, and the texture's often rubbery.


• Go gourmet. Specialty cheeses are high in fat -- but their intense flavors are satisfying, so you can more easily stick to a small serving.

From Reader's Digest - February 2009

 

• Cholesterol
• Heart-Healthy Food
• Nutrition

• The Family Guide to a Healthy Heart
• Here's everything you and your loved ones must know. (Surprise: You each need something different!)
• 
• Heart-Healthy Mediterranean Recipes
• The diet that keeps the heart healthy.
• 
• Mediterranean-Inspired Brown Bag Lunch Ideas
• Save money and calories with Mediterranean-inspired brown bag lunches. View a shopping list and recipes for 5 lunches.
•