Getting on a low fat, low in cholesterol diet is an old recommendation many of us with high blood cholesterol have heard more times than we care to remember. We all know that cutting out fat from our diet alone can contribute significantly to losing weight and prevent many chronic diseases triggered by obesity and high blood cholesterol such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, heart disease, strokes and cancer. But does that mean all fats?

The recent Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial had showed that heart diseases, cancer or atherosclerosis were not prevented among people who had been on a low fat diet for long periods of time (more than 8 years). Significant weight loss has not been observed either. From a study made in Harvard, it appears that the total amount of fat in our food has very little to do with diseases such as heart attack, atherosclerosis or cancer.

There is however, a strong link between the type of fat in our diet and high blood cholesterol, atherosclerosis, heart disease and cancer.

It seems that not all fats are made equal. There are in fact fats that heal and fats that kill. Saturated fats and trans fats are highly dangerous to your health and can lead to certain chronic conditions and even fatal diseases it taken regularly. On the other hand, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats- the good fats, for example, not only lower the risk for heart disease and atherosclerosis they are even extremely beneficial to our delicate internal balance and our over whole health.

There are many categories in between the good and bad fats. Although polyunsaturated fats are considered good they are not quite the best choice. Polyunsaturated fats come from soybean, fish, safflower or cottonseed oil. Better than polyunsaturated fats are the unsaturated and monounsaturated fats. All the fats above comes from most plants, nuts and seeds.

The best way to be sure a food is right for your cholesterol management is checking how it stands in room temperature. If the fat stays solid, like margarine or butter it’s bad for your cholesterol condition. If the fat is liquid is a better choice for you.

When consuming good fats such as polyunsaturated fats, unsaturated and monounsaturated fats, it dramatically and positively affects your cholesterol levels. These fats do a great job in lowering your LDL cholesterol, which is considered the bad cholesterol, and raise the HDL cholesterol, also referred to as the good kind cholesterol since it helps regulate and remove the LDL cholesterol from the arteries and prevent diseases.

Combining the consumption of the god fats, with the right type of lowering cholesterol foods along with the solid vitamins and minerals can have a significant effect on your cholesterol management success.