Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is talked about in the context of heart health. The liver produces both good and bad cholesterol after digesting certain foods. Your diet loads the gun for heart conditions; it is a trigger. If you have high levels of cholesterol, especially LDL or the wrong kind, you should consider dietary modifications. The following are eating habits that people with high cholesterol levels must avoid.

1. Processed foods
Processed foods contain trans fats and a great deal of sugar and salt, and harmful cholesterol forms in the body after the metabolism of sugary, fatty, and salty food. Those three words describe almost all fast foods. Avoid artificial trans fats, as these are produced by the hydrogenation of unstructured fats. Trans-fats are commonly used in restaurants because they are cheap alternatives to natural saturated fats. Hydrogenated fats raise harmful LDL levels while simultaneously decreasing good HDL cholesterol levels. Artificial trans fats have a 23% greater chance of triggering heart disease.

2. Sugar
It is not just fats but added sugars that can also raise cholesterol levels. Adults who consume 25% of their calories from drinks with high fructose corn syrup have a 17% increase in LDL levels in 14 days. Fructose increases the number of oxidized LDL molecules in the blood. Sadly, 10% of Americans consume this amount of fructose, and these people are three times more likely to die from heart disease. Doctors recommend that men consume 150 calories of added sugar and women and children only 100 calories.

3. Low fiber foods
Foods low in fiber are bad for people with high LDL levels. Humans lack the ability to break down soluble fiber, and hence it moves unscathed through the gastrointestinal tract. Fiber absorbs water and substances like bile, and your body excretes it through stools. Bile consists of cholesterol, and thus your liver needs to make more bile by drawing cholesterol from the blood. Hence you can replace low fiber foods with those containing high fiber.

4. Triglycerides
Fats called triglycerides are stored in the body’s fat deposits and are released between meals whenever the body needs energy. When you eat, the body does not need triglycerides. However, high levels of triglycerides in the blood, like LDL levels, increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. If you eat more often than you need, your triglyceride levels are likely to be high.

What to do instead
Have less sugar, add in herbs, embrace the spice–so many diet rules! But an easy way to ensure your food is cholesterol friendly is going Mediterranean with your diet. This diet is rich in fatty fish, olive oil, whole grains, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. All of these are foods that lower LDL cholesterol levels. The Greek diet involves very little alcohol, and when it does, it is usually red wine, which is heart-healthy. One study shows that following this diet for at least three months reduces up to 10 mg of cholesterol per liter of blood and lowers the risk of heart disease by over 50%.