In daily life, people with high blood lipids often find themselves advised by doctors during hospital visits, saying things like, “You should eat lighter,” “Why don’t you avoid certain foods after I’ve told you,” and “You know, it’s all because of your eating habits.”
Mr. Wang, 63, assuredly states that he has been quite careful about his diet’s impact on his elevated blood lipids: “I eat very little for breakfast and lunch, and I only eat a bit more for dinner. When I feel like it, I even drink a few small glasses of wine myself.”
The doctor promptly corrected his thinking: among the three meals a day, dinner should be the lightest for health. The human body has the poorest digestive ability at night, with vital energy retreating and hiding; the more nutritious the food consumed, the less it can be converted, and the leftovers become waste, which can lead to diseases like high blood lipids.
However, Mr. Wang still expressed concern, saying, “I feel weak; I have to eat enough for dinner. A horse won’t get fat without eating at night. If I don’t eat enough at night, I’ll wake up hungry in the middle of the night.”
But that isn’t the case at all! Remember: our digestive system is afraid of blockage, not hunger. Feeling slightly hungry is good for the body, as it keeps energy levels light and spry. Eating until the stomach is overly full, instead, leads to fatigue. Nutrition doesn’t mean more is better; it’s best when it’s just right. Later, under the doctor’s advice, Mr. Wang reduced his dinner portions to being just slightly full. As a result, the biggest benefit was that his previous episodes of heart palpitations decreased significantly, and after halving his food intake, his heart no longer felt uneasy, and his triglyceride levels returned to normal.
The doctor reminded him: Eating two hours before bed or after 7 PM can lead to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. People with high blood lipids are already at a high risk, and if blood lipids do not drop at night, the risk of cardiac arrest or stroke significantly increases.
Avoid these three types of foods at night; otherwise, blood lipids will spike:
Greasy foods
Consuming too many high-fat and high-calorie foods can harm the body, especially at night. If excess calories and fats cannot be metabolized normally, it can lead to vascular blockage, triggering coronary heart disease or stroke overnight. Therefore, it’s generally advisable to choose lighter foods for dinner.
High carbohydrate foods
It’s recommended to eat less high-carbohydrate foods like refined rice and flour at dinner. If looking to increase satiety, one can incorporate more whole grains or high-fiber vegetables. Besides avoiding high-carbohydrate foods, high-sugar foods should also be consumed sparingly. Excessive intake of carbohydrates and sugars is a significant dietary habit leading to higher blood lipids.
Alcoholic beverages
Alcohol itself is a highly stimulatory substance that not only harms the liver but also raises blood lipids, exacerbating the issue of high blood lipids. Drinking alcohol during dinner may indeed worsen this problem. Therefore, it’s best to avoid drinking during dinner, and if drinking is necessary, it must be in moderation.
To prevent high blood lipids, be sure to do these three things:
Supplement nutrients
Eat more yellow flower oil that contains active components like alpha-linolenic acid, which have “triple” effects: lowering triglycerides, reducing blood lipids, and nourishing blood vessels. With antioxidant and lipid-lowering effects, it can effectively control the concentration of blood lipids in the body, preventing fat from accumulating in vascular walls and inhibiting the formation and development of atherosclerosis, playing a crucial role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and clearing blood clots.
According to “Food Therapy”: Plant sterol esters, evening primrose oil, alpha-linolenic acid, and linoleic acid are all food ingredients that can lower blood lipids and are typically consumed in the form of yellow flower oil.
Evening primrose oil: The root of the red flower evening primrose, a plant in the willow-leafed evening primrose family, can lower serum TG and TC, maintain the dynamic balance of lipids in arterial walls, stabilize atherosclerotic plaques, improve blood viscosity, reduce free radicals, and decrease the formation of rancid substances and lipid deposits in vessel walls.
