Cholesterol

keef66

A lot of it is genetics. Serum cholesterol isn't really affected by the dietary cholesterol, so the scares about too many eggs / prawns etc were groundless. Too much saturated fat and sugar can bump it up though, so reducing them can help a bit, as can the Benecol type stuff. After that, statins are the next resort.

team47b

lot of good points about genetics and the need for a balanced diet.

The missing piece of info is that fibre reduces cholesterol. There are two types, soluble and insoluble. Soluble is more effective, found in oats, apples citrus fruit. Insoluble in veg fruit all plants in fact, what used to be called roughage.

As an approximation one gram of fibre cancels out one gram of fat. So you can take the figures on the back of your packet food, look at fat content and minus fibre to get a more accurate figure of the fat you are consuming, although it would be easier just to reduce fat and increase fibre in your diet for general health benefits.

On average a bloke should be eating about 38 grams of fibre a day! Oats are the easiest to incorporate in most cycling snacks, but fruit is easy to eat on a bike, especially dried fruit.

If you are going to suddenly up your fibre intake please be aware that you are on a bike and wearing tights! :oops: