Good Cholesterol tracker

Gowens2222

Why do you only track total cholesterol in the diet diary? Would it be better to separate bad cholesterol from good? If I eat avacado or eggs it pegs my daily cholesterol numbers. But those foods are really that bad, right?

AnnPT77

AFAIK there isn't good and bad dietary cholesterol (although there's so-called good and bad blood cholesterol, HDL and LDL).

In food, there's just "cholesterol", as listed on food labels, and that's where the info in the database comes from.

Whether it's important to manage dietary cholesterol is complicated, may depend on individual genetics.

If you need to manage your cholesterol intake, that would mean managing cholesterol intake from any/all foods - nutrient dense foods like eggs or avocados as well as so-called "junk food".

cwolfman13

There is no such thing as good or bad dietary cholesterol, there's just cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol is actually pretty irrelevant to blood serum levels. There are good and bad cholesterol as it relates to blood work...ie LDL and HDL cholesterol. These blood serum levels are more closely correlated to what types of fats you consume, being overly fat, and exercise or no exercise.

For example, high intake of saturated fats have shown a correlation to increased LDL (bad cholesterol), though there is a lot of conflicting information out there. Consumption of heart healthy mono and poly unsaturated fats have shown a correlation to decreased LDL and increased HDL. Losing weight and regular exercise are also correlated with a decrease in LDL and an increase in HDL.