(Image source from: Are you consuming bad cholesterol?})

With 60% of world's cardiac patients living in India, it becomes imperative to know whether we are eating right. For cholesterol does not increase overnight, it accumulates gradually. With almost 100 million heart patients in India, eating healthy becomes all the more important as Indians are vulnerable to diabetes and heart disease.

Stay away from food items that have a high amount of trans fats and saturated fats to avoid bad cholesterol. Trans fats is more dangerous than saturated fats. Saturated fats increases LDL (low-density lipoprotein; bad cholesterol) and HDL (high-density lipoprotein; good cholesterol). While trans fats increases LDL and reduces HDL.

Consuming trans fats raises the chances of causing heart disease 10 times more than saturated fats. Processed foods found in supermarkets - fried potato chips, cookies, crackers, cake mixes and whipped toppings – are loaded with trans fats.

Following types of food items have high amount of trans fats and saturated fats.

Junk food like pizzas, french fries and burgers

High-fat meats and organ meats

Shellfish like prawns, crabs and lobster

Milk products like high-fat paneer, full-fat milk, milk cream and curd

Non-dairy creamers

Baked food items like pastries, cakes, cookies, and biscuits

Processed foods

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(AW: Pratima Tigga)