The TLC Diet is similar to the DASH Diet and the Ornish Diet. It was designed to be a cholesterol lowering diet. Research has shown that it is also a good diet for heart health, for helping with diabetes, and weight loss and maintenance. It is considered a safe and healthy diet that is also healthy for children. This is a diet where the whole family can reap benefits. You will not have to make a meal for yourself and a different one for the rest of your family.
The diet was created by Created by the National Institutes of Health’s National Cholesterol Education Program. It is endorsed by the American Heart Association for it being a good diet for cardiovascular health. This is because the diet stresses the importance of lowering fat in your diet, particularly the bad saturated fats.
As for how it works, you will have a daily caloric intake of 2500 calories per day for men, and 1800 for women. If the goal is to also lose weight, then the daily calories are limited to 1600 for men, and 1200 for women. Saturated fat has to be cut back to no more than 7% of the daily calories.
This should be followed for six weeks, and at that time your cholesterol should be lower by at least 8 percent. If not, you will then add 10 to 25 grams of fiber to your diet, which is to help block cholesterol from being absorbed into your system. You are to eat a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, nonfat dairy, and the meats suggested are fresh fish and poultry prepared without the skin. Also, you are allowed to decide on what you eat within these choices as long as you stick to the basic rules.
You have to be one that will track what you eat in order for this diet to work. The Department of Health and Human Services offers an online guide regarding the TLC Diet titled Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol with TLC, that you can access here, which gives an in-depth look at the guidelines to follow.
You should stay satisfied and feel full on this diet due to all of the fiber you will get from the fruits and vegetables that you will be eating on this diet. If you love fried foods and have a sweet tooth, however, this may not be the diet for you. Try using spices to give your food an extra pop of flavor when baking or grilling. Remember that you can have nonfat yogurt or sorbet for dessert which might help with cravings for sweets.
