"Exploring the Pros and Cons of Cholesterol"

Cholesterol is an indispensable substance in the human body, but its intake should be moderate. Excessively high cholesterol levels in the blood can lead to atherosclerosis, hypertension, and heart disease. However, excessively low cholesterol levels in the blood can also contribute to coronary heart disease or other illnesses. In children, low cholesterol levels in the blood can affect their intellectual development. Generally speaking, healthy individuals do not need to avoid foods with higher cholesterol content, such as fatty meat, bones, liver, brain, kidneys, lard, butter, cream, coconut oil, and other products. Young people can consume these foods naturally without restriction. For obese individuals over 40 years old, it is advisable to reduce their intake of high-cholesterol foods to prevent an increase in blood cholesterol levels. High-cholesterol foods can easily lead to coronary heart disease and hyperlipidemia. Patients with more than 260 mg of cholesterol per 100 ml of blood have a five times higher risk of coronary heart disease compared to those with less than 200 mg/100 ml. Middle-aged and elderly individuals, as well as those with coronary heart disease, should be cautious or avoid high-cholesterol foods. Typically, foods with more than 200 mg of cholesterol per 100 grams are considered high-cholesterol foods. Common examples include: fatty pork (220 mg/100g, subsequent units omitted), beef liver (280), pig liver (460), chicken giblets (420.3), hairtail (224), crucian carp (1170), eel (215.6), lobster (218.2), cream (280), beef and mutton offal (280), cod liver oil (400), pig kidney (300), whole egg (500), egg yolk (2000), preserved duck egg yolk (2015). If you have hypertension, you should focus on light, easy-to-digest, and low-fat foods such as beans, soybean oil, vegetable oil, sesame oil, corn oil, and various fruits and vegetables. You should try to minimize or avoid foods with high cholesterol content.