11 High-Cholesterol Foods to Avoid

“Bad” cholesterol is not something you’d want in your diet. Too much of it puts you at greater risk for heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. According to the American Heart Association, a diet rich in saturated and trans fats can elevate your “bad” cholesterol.

Stay away from these 11 high-cholesterol foods and you can keep your heart healthy.

1. Egg Yolk

A large egg can have as much as 184 mg of pure unadulterated cholesterol in its yolk. That’s a sinful amount when considering the recommended cholesterol intake for adults: 300 mg a day for healthy individuals and 200 mg a day for people suffering from or at risk for heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

Studies have shown that healthy people can eat up to 7 whole eggs in a week without raising their risk for heart disease. In fact, this can even prevent some types of stroke. Meanwhile, diabetics who eat just as much eggs within a week are more likely to develop heart problems as a complication of their disease.

How to lower your cholesterol: If you’re healthy, you can eat one egg each day. But if you are currently suffering from or at risk for heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes, it is best that you limit your consumption between 2 to 3 eggs in a week and eating no more than one in a day. Go for small to medium-sized eggs to further reduce your cholesterol intake.

Instead of skipping eggs altogether, doctors recommend avoiding less healthy foods (i.e. low nutritional value but high in saturated fats). Eggs are a good source of protein, vitamin D, and several other nutrients after all.