Cholesterol Channel
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High Cholesterol Foods
Products that come from animals, including fatty red meat, egg yolks, butter, cheese, and whole milk, are foods that are high in cholesterol. There are also foods that are high in saturated fats and trans fat (such as coconut oil), which can also raise your level of LDL (bad) cholesterol. In a way, they have a similar effect on your body as eating things that are high in cholesterol.
Knowing where high cholesterol foods come from is an important step in limiting the foods you eat that are high in cholesterol. But it does not stop there, because there are a number of other foods that may not be considered "high cholesterol foods" but that still raise your LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol) more than high cholesterol foods do.
Cholesterol comes from animals. If a food does not come from an animal (such as a fruit or vegetable), then it does not have cholesterol. The highest of high cholesterol foods are eggs and liver. An egg yolk has 213 mg of cholesterol.
Some other foods that are high in cholesterol include:
- Whole-milk dairy products
- Butter
- Cream
- Ice cream
- Cream cheese
- Certain shellfish, such as shrimp
- Other organ meats, such as kidney and brain
- Duck and goose (which have more cholesterol than chicken or turkey; the skin on these animals is high in cholesterol).
When looking at cholesterol levels in the body, eating foods that are high in cholesterol is just part of the equation. Actually, for most people, the main cause of high blood cholesterol is eating too much of certain types of fat. Saturated fat and trans fatty acid (also known as trans fat) are types of fat that raise your cholesterol levels.
Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD