Lowering cholesterol decreases the risk of developing heart and blood vessel disease. Recipes to lower cholesterol should contain limited amounts of certain food components.

Recipes to lower cholesterol should have limited amounts of saturated fat and trans fat. Saturated fat is the bad kind of fat, which raises the cholesterol levels in your blood. Trans fat, meanwhile, is another kind of fat that is produced when vegetable oil is manufactured and processed. Trans fat is also bad for the body. Unsaturated fat, another kind of fat, is the beneficial kind.

An easy way to lessen the amount of saturated fat in your diet is to decrease the amount of all the fats you eat. Decreasing the total amount of fat in your recipes to lower cholesterol effectively decreases the amount of both saturated and unsaturated fat in your body. Fat should comprise at most 30% of the calories you eat. The lower the amount of saturated fat you put in your recipes to lower cholesterol, the better your levels will be.

Substituting unsaturated fats for saturated fats in your recipes to lower cholesterol is also an effective way to prevent heart disease.

Saturated fats are mostly found in animal products, such as butter, ice cream, cheese, and animal meat, among others. Some vegetable fats, such as coconut oil and palm oil, also contain saturated fats. Vegetable fats are typically used in commercial products, such as cookies, cake mixes, chips and candy bars. Fish and poultry also have saturated fats, although of lesser amounts.

There are two kinds of unsaturated fats: polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. Polyunsaturated fats can be found in cooking oils, such as sesame and sunflower oils. Fish also contains polyunsaturated fats, specifically the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. Meanwhile, monounsaturated fats can be found in cooking oils, such as olive oil and canola oil.

By substituting unsaturated fats for saturated fats in your recipes to lower cholesterol, you can decrease the cholesterol in your bloodstream by as much as 20%.