“Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are,” said the French philosopher. Two hundred years later, doctors agree. If you eat unhealthy, you end up unhealthy. Here we focus on just one of many dietary villains: cholesterol, and his sidekick, triglycerides. If you want to steer clear of heart and artery disease, then you must understand the unhealthy nexus between the cholesterol- (and triglyceride-) laden food you consume and cardio-vascular disease. This understanding is crucial to making an informed decision about your choice of food, because that’s going to affect your health and your life.

Health magazines and sites warn you about the dangers of cholesterol. They say that high levels of cholesterol in your diet can and do lead to serious heart problems like strokes, heart attacks, heart disease, and artery disease. These serious ailments and conditions are further aggravated if you smoke, or suffer from hypertension and obesity, or have a hereditary condition.

The thing to understand is that when we speak of cholesterol, we are actually speaking of three different things: good cholesterol (HDL), bad cholesterol (LDL), and triglycerides. Triglycerides are not really cholesterol but are very intimately associated with regular cholesterol. Now not all these things are unhealthy or disease causing. In fact the body requires cholesterol and triglycerides too. The trick is in identifying the good ones and including them in your daily diet, and simultaneously avoiding the unhealthy ones. Fish cholesterol and triglycerides is good. Omega-3 fats found in a number of fish are recommended by physicians and nutritionists for patients suffering from diseases caused by cholesterol, because Omega-3 actually helps to reduce the level of bad cholesterol.

We grew up to a simple fact: Eggs are good for us! Then came the pronouncement: Eggs contain a lot of cholesterol! Immediately eggs were taken off the diet lists of almost every household. Now eggs are back without the yolk because research has shown that it is the yolk which contains the cholesterol and not the white. So chefs everywhere are dreaming up yolk-less egg delicacies! The point is that we often bad name a food without really understanding what about it is really harmful.

So now you are careful about eating eggs. You have restricted to one poached egg. But are you looking at what you’re having along with the egg? Bacon and cheese and sausages, with thick slices of white bread liberally coated with butter! The egg isn’t going to harm you, but those side helpings definitely are! Once again the point is that instead of adopting a policy of exclusion of a specific food, we should have a more holistic approach to the entire meal.

In general you should avoid greasy foods which are fried or deep fried. You take a perfectly healthy, non-cholesterol-aggravating eggplant, then you coat it in batter and deep fry it that’s a perfect recipe for a whole slew of cardio-vascular problems! Yes, there are some foods which are bad for your heart which you must avoid. All animal products like meat, poultry, dairy produce and egg yolks are known contributors to high cholesterol levels in the blood. So go easy on those red meats, for your heart’s sake!

Saturated fats are a deadly ingredient in your diet, making the liver increase production of LDL and triglycerides which leads to artery blockage and strokes.

The moral of this brief story is that you should adopt a holistic approach to your diet rather than a exclusive approach. Have everything, but in moderation. Instead of banning specific items from the dining table, it’ll be healthier if you keep a check on how the food is prepared. Boiling, grilling and baking is preferable to frying. Increase the quantum of vegetables in your diet. Follow these steps to have a hearty meal!