Low carb, low cholesterol suggestions?

emgett
emgett Posts: 13
in Food and Nutrition
Hello all! I was wondering if anybody had good suggestions for low carb, low cholesterol/ sat. fat foods that would be doable for a college student with limited resources. (I don't have car, so it's difficult for me to get to the grocery store more than once every 1-2 months. Things that go bad quickly are a no no if they can't be purchased at a WaWa or a CVS).

I just joined MFP a few days ago, but I've already realized that my carb levels are too high relative to my overall calorie levels. The thing is, I already have high-ish cholesterol (genetics, I guess, since I generally consume <100mg a day), so meat and cheese are out. If I include much more fat in my diet (even unsaturated), I'll get uncomfortably close to the limits MFP sets, but I need to make it to 1200 calories somehow...I tend to stall at ~900, which has left me with a low weight but wide waist and high-ish body fat percentage. I try to snack on something to make up the difference, but all my favorite snacks are high carb!

So... the perfect food for me would be high cal, low carb, low fat, high protein, and easy to store. Does such a thing exist?

THANKS!

Replies

  • madpacket
    madpacket Posts: 2
    Beef jerky?

    Try checking out the following. You may find that a higher fat diet with less carbs affects your cholesterol levels positively. Also, low cholesterol levels may not even be indicative of health to begin with.

    http://www.fathead-movie.com/
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    You're going to have a really hard time finding something to fit your requirements.

    Why do you want to do low carb? Do you have any reason to think it would be good for you? Or are you just buying into the hype?

    You can lose weight while eating carbs.

    Low carb is not automatically best. Some people do great on it... but not everyone does... and in your case... yah... if you really want to eat low cholesterol... you'd be better off eating grains, veggies, fruits, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated oils...

    But anyhow, losing weigh will help your cholesterol and triglyceride levels regardless of how you do it, so if you have your heart set on low carb for some reason... go for it. Just focus on lean meats.

    As for storage issues... tuna... chicken in a can... that sort of stuff.
  • emgett
    emgett Posts: 13
    Thanks for the response! I'm not looking low carb for any particular reason other than a general trust in the recommended requirements seen both on MFP and other sites. I just noticed that, overwhelmingly, the foods I tend to gravitate towards are high carb, to the point that I can max out the recommended 165g of carbs (assuming it's not a workout day) before I hit ~1200 calories... and then I'm left trying to decide whether it would be worse to be under my recommended calories or over my recommended carbs.

    My overall goal isn't actually weight loss-- the number on the scale is low enough-- it's a lower body fat percentage and a more toned look. I've been going to the gym more often (which isn't a whole lot, but it's progress), and I want to make sure that my diet isn't sabotaging my efforts in that regard.

    Thanks again for your input!

    P.S- What's your icon pic, by the way? It looks like a neuron, which appeals to my neuro-major self, but I can't tell what the pink in the soma is supposed to indicate.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
    Low carb will improve your cardiovascular health, but I don't think its necessary to cut back saturated fat and cholesterol intake.

    Here are studies that actually finds refined carbohydrates to be the main culprit.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20089734
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21978979
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    P.S- What's your icon pic, by the way? It looks like a neuron, which appeals to my neuro-major self, but I can't tell what the pink in the soma is supposed to indicate.

    :D

    It IS a neuron. The neuron is apoptotic. The pink is the condensed nucleus stained with Ethidium Homodimer II and Hoechst. Ethidium Homodimer is red. Hoechst is blue. For some reason, that makes pink and not purple under the microscope.
  • emgett
    emgett Posts: 13
    grinch031-

    Wow, thanks for those links-- I've only read the abstracts so far, but I never would have guessed that carbs could increase atherosclerosis.

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