Cholesterol is found in the human blood. It is responsible for maintenance of cell membrane function and production of hormones. Human body manufactures its own cholesterol according to its need. So all the cholesterol consumed by us is extra and is not needed by our body.

This extra cholesterol tends to increase the amount of cholesterol in blood and exposes us to risk of developing heart related problems.

Cholesterol is found basically in the meat so people who are vegans and do not eat meat are not likely to have high cholesterol. Following are some food items which have high quantity of cholesterol.

1. Egg Yolk

Egg yolk contains highest amount of cholesterol of all the foods. A turkey egg contains 262% of cholesterol while hen’s egg contains 62% of cholesterol. This high level of cholesterol can cause harm to the human body.

You can easily avoid consuming this high amount of cholesterol by discarding the egg yolk and only eating the egg white. Heart patients are advised by their doctors to only have egg white and not egg yolk.

2. Liver

Source: Wikipedia

It is one of the tastiest foods with highest iron content but it has a very high content of cholesterol in it. Lamb liver is said to have 47% of cholesterol, Beef liver has 37% of cholesterol in it while chicken liver has 36% of cholesterol content. Cholesterol is made and stored in liver thus it has the highest cholesterol content.

One can easily avoid eating liver or may have a very small quantity of it. You can also have it occasionally so you can make of its iron content.

3. Fast Food

Fast food also has very high cholesterol content. This is because most fast food is deep fried and has oil soaked into them. This makes them have high cholesterol content. You can avoid taking cholesterol by limiting the amount of fast food eaten.

The more fast food you eat the greater the cholesterol intake and more chances of its adverse effects. Changing lifestyle and eating habits and limiting fast food to once or twice in a month can be really helpful in controlling it.

4. Butter

That is why butter has very high cholesterol content in it. Butter like all the other foods with high cholesterol level can expose human body to variety of cardiac related issues. Butter contains high amount of saturated vegetable oils which are not digested b our body easily. So food with lots of butter should be avoided.

5. Red Meat

Red meat like lamb and beef contain more cholesterol and saturated fats than any other meat. Red meat is said to exaggerate cholesterol in our blood and can worsen an already occurring heart disease. Patients with cardiac problems are often told to quit red meat completely.

Healthy alternatives for red meat are vegetable proteins, like beans, chicken, fish, which is high in heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids

6. Processed Meat

Processed meat like sausages, bacon, pepperoni, salami etc is also very high in cholesterol. Too much consumption of these may also lead to high cholesterol in the circulating blood.

It is better to eat them in simpler forms rather than processed. Other than being high in cholesterol, processed food also has cancer causing agents. So this kind of food should be avoided totally.

7. Cheese

this makes it a potential food item which might cause an increase the circulating cholesterol in our blood. One can easily alternate cheese with fat free cheese like cottage cheese etc. This might not affect the taste of the food that much and is has very high nutritional value.

8. Ice Cream

Ice cream is also very high in cholesterol content. It is said one cup of kids scoop contains more fat than a hamburger and more cholesterol than 10 doughnuts. This shows how harmful it would be for us if we eat a lot of ice cream.

Making changes in eating lifestyle and Controlling the amount and frequency of eating ice cream can be very effective in maintaining a healthy blood cholesterol level.

9. Muffins and Other Baked Foods

like cakes, cookies etc are very high in cholesterol. This is because they contain butter, egg and white flour. All of these are high in cholesterol. They also contain sugar, which when not needed by the body is converted into fat. Muffins can be alternated by using a different recipe and using wheat flour or bran etc.

10. Sea Food

Not all sea food is high in cholesterol, especially fish which is very healthy and extremely low in cholesterol. But sea food like shellfish, crabs, lobster etc has a very content of cholesterol in them. They should be avoided as much as possible.

Or could be alternated with prawns, shrimps, fish etc. people with existing heart diseases should avoid them completely.