Don't know what diet to choose (I have a high cholesterol)

Before you start this diet, consult with your doctor.

It is a well-known fact that people in countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, live longer and suffer less from cancer and cardiovascular ailments compared to Americans. Mediterraneans  have more active lifestyle while their diet favors healthy fats you can get from olive oil or various nuts. They also eat fish more often and don't eat as much red meat.

Together with the Harvard School of Public Health, Oldways, a nonprofit organization in Boston, developed a Mediterranean diet pyramid that highlights the importance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil as well as eating fish and seafood at least a couple of times a week. Poultry, eggs, and various dairy products should be enjoyed, but in moderation. Sugary food and red meat are not off-limits, but they should be consumed every now and then, and not on a daily basis.

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

Check this Mediterranean diet cookbook for recipes. For more information visit Mediterranean diet.

Before you start this diet, consult with your doctor.

The Engine 2 diet is a plant-based diet developed by firefighter Rip Esselstyn. Rip invented the program when he realized that several of his colleagues had very high cholesterol. Rip's main goal was to provide supreme results in a short amount of time. After 28 days, everyone in the firehouse experienced weight loss and striking decrease of cholesterol level. The program consists of a 28-day meal plan that incorporates vegetables, whole grain products, seeds, and nuts.

The book includes 125 recipes to aid you in making diversified meals. It has been verified that the Engine 2 diet reduces cholesterol in your blood along with your weight. 

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

You can order the book here. For more information visit the Engine2 diet.

Ornish diet was invented by Dr. Dean Ornish, a well-known cardiologist. Originally, Ornish diet was developed  to prevent heart diseases and to help people who already suffer from heart diseases. Except making your heart healthier, this diet will also lower your cholesterol and make you lose weight. 

Ornish diet severely limits animal fat and cholesterol and focuses on getting nutrients from whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes. Only low-fat dairy products are allowed and alcohol and simple carbs are strictly forbidden. Dr. Ornish proposes that your diet contains 10% fat, 20% protein and 70% carbs. It is almost completely a vegetarian diet.

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

For more information visit Ornish diet or you can order Ornish diet book.

TLC stands for Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes and it's a program created primarily to lower your cholesterol, but it can also help you lose weight. If you want to follow this diet, you will have to seriously trim your consumption of saturated fat.

Your daily intake of saturated fat should not be higher than 7% of your daily calorie intake which means you will have to get rid of high-fat dairy products and processed meat as well as pork and other fatty meat. You are allowed only skinless chicken and turkey or fish. Your daily cholesterol intake is limited to 200 mg which means you will have to do some counting to figuring out how much cholesterol a certain food has.

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

For more information visit TLC diet.

Before you start this diet, consult with your doctor.

If you start the DASH diet, your menu will be loaded with fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. It will also include whole grain food, lean meat, and fish; nuts and beans. DASH diet is rich in fiber and enables you low to moderate intake of fat. It follows US dietary guidelines for sodium intake and contains sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals. The DASH diet lowers blood pressure and cholesterol and makes it easy to lose weight in the long run. 

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

For more information visit the DASH diet.

Before you start this diet, consult with your doctor.

Flexitarian is derived from two words: Flexible and vegetarian. The term was invented in the early 90's but it became popular only 5-6 years ago. The most prominent advocate of flexitarian diet is Dawn Jackson Blatner wrote The Flexitarian diet book. She claims you don't have to get rid of meat completely to gain health benefits linked to vegetarianism – you can be a vegetarian most of the time, but still eat meat every now and then when you have cravings.

There are three degrees of flexitarian diet you can adopt:

• A beginner who eats meat five days per week.
• An advanced flexitarian who eats meat three to four days per week
• An expert flexitarian who eats meat only two days per week

After you establish what kind of a flexitarian are you, you then follow a diet plan suited for your degree of flexitarianism.

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

For more information visit the Flexitarian diet.

Before you start this diet, consult your doctor.

Proponents of the Volumetric diet consider the denseness of certain food while planning a meal. Some foods are less dense than the other which means your calorie intake is lower than when eating denser foods. Low-density foods, that are low in calorie but high in volume, help you feel full and satisfied while dropping pounds. Optimal types of food are fruits and vegetables since they’ll fill you up without you going over your daily calorie limit.

Volumetric diet was established by nutritionist Barbara Rolls who says that this program is more of an approach to eating than it is a structured diet. With Ultimate Volumetrics diet book as your guide, you will be taught how to interpret food’s energy density and master the way of eating fewer calories while still feeling full and satisfied. Though the book encloses numerous recipes and examples of meal plans, its biggest value is that it teaches you Volumetric reasoning and how to use it in everyday life.

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

For more information visit the Volumetrics diet.

The MIND diet combines two well-received diets, DASH diet and Mediterranean diet, but focuses on food that affects your brain health. Even though this diet is primarily designed to preserve your mental health, it will also help you lose weight and improve your heart health as well. 

This diet recommends eating green leafy vegetables, lean meat and fish, berries and nuts, and wine. It forbids red meat, butter and margarine, pastry and sugar in general, and high-fat dairy products.

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

For more information visit the MIND diet or you can order The MIND Diet book.

Before you start this diet, consult with your doctor.

Biggest Loser is a popular reality show that started in 2004 in which obese contestants lose weight by following Biggest Loser diet. With the Biggest Loser Club, the official weight loss program of the Biggest Loser, you can adopt the same diet and fitness plans like the contestants in the show.

Biggest loser diet encourages users to consume carbs that come mostly from fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products. White food(sugar, white flour, white rice, white pasta, etc.) should be completely removed from the menu or at least severely reduced. Proteins should come from lean meat, fish, and low-fat dairy. Fats should come from seeds, nuts, and olive oil.

You can use The Biggest Loser Cookbook for 125+ recipes designed for this diet.

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

For more information visit biggestloserclub.com.

Before you start this diet, consult with your doctor. Even though this diet has many health benefits (you avoid all processed food), many experts consider it unsafe and nutritionally deficient because it excludes entire food groups (legumes, grains, dairy products), making it hard for dieters to get all the nutrients they need.

The Paleolithic Diet consists only from food that was consumed by our ancestors living in Paleolithic era over 10,000 years ago. The Paleo Diet advocates claim that our bodies are designed to survive and flourish on the diet that was available to our early Paleolithic predecessors. The backbone of Paleolithic Diet are meat, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and basically anything that was available in the Paleolithic era. Foods that were not available in the Paleolithic era, and therefore are not allowed, are  grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils. Followers of this diet believe that modern day food is to blame for the obesity epidemic, as well as the increase in weight-related health conditions.

For more information buy the Paleo diet book or visit thepaleodiet.com.

Before you try this diet, consult your doctor.

This is not a short-term diet that will make you quickly lose your weight. Instead, this is a diet that you can sustain for the rest of your life. It emphasises healthy and balanced weight-reduction plan with gradual weight loss.

It consists of three phases:

• Baby steps (minimum of 4 weeks): Brace your body for weight loss. Increase level of activity, stimulate your metabolism with increased fiber intake, have small meals every couple of hours and get rid of alcohol, bad fats, sugary beverages, white bread and high-fat dairy products.
• Get moving (minimum of 4 weeks: In this phase you eat the same food from phase 1 but now you can add some "bad" food you weren't allowed in phase 1. You also have to take care of portion control and increase your activity even more. The number of calories you can eat depends on how much you are active.
• Your best life (for the rest of your life): You increase your level of activity even more, and make sure that the food you eat is wholesome, healthy and filled with nutrients and minerals your body needs. You can indulge in alcohol and junk food every now and then.

This diet can be adjusted for vegetarians and vegans. It is also healthy for people that have diabetes or heart condition.

For more information visit the Best Life diet.

Before you try this diet, consult your doctor.

Flat Belly diet is one of the few diets that advocates increased fat intake as a way to lose weight. Of course, we are talking about healthy fats (monounsaturated fats) you get from olive oil, seeds, nuts, and other plants that high in fat. Saturated fat you get from fatty meats and processed food should be avoided.

You are supposed to eat 4 meals a day, every 4 hours. Meals should have around 400 calories which add up to 1600 calories per day. Every meal should include healthy fats.

For the first 4 days, this diet's main goal is to decrease bloating of your body and  is somewhat rigid since it bans all processed food, vegetables that makes you gassy (onion, legumes), and carbs like bananas, pasta, bread, etc. That can be challenging for most people, but fortunately, it lasts only 4 days.

After that, you switch to more casual diet (but still are not allowed to go over 1600 calories per day and must include healthy fats in every meal) that very much resembles Mediterranean diet.

It is considered healthy for people with high cholesterol, blood pressure or heart disease.

For more information visit the Flat Belly diet.

Before you try this diet, consult your doctor.

This 28-day diet plan has a bit different approach than other diets. It allows a huge breakfast that can even include sweets. The philosophy behind this is that you can eat pretty much anything you want, but only for breakfast. It is supposed to reduce cravings for sugar and junk food in the afternoon and evening.

Carbs and sweets are strictly forbidden during lunch and dinner. They also have to be considerably smaller than breakfast. If you are not used to having breakfast, it might be hard for you to adjust to this diet. Other than that, this diet is pretty easy to follow since nothing is forbidden as long as it is a part of breakfast.

Vegetarians and vegans can easy adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

For more information visit the Big Breakfast diet or order the Big Breakfast diet book.

Before you try this diet, consult your doctor.

Want to start a diet, but can't imagine life without carbs? This might be a diet for you. The Carb Lover's diet allows carbs, but not just any carbs. It encourages you to eat carbs rich in resistant starch such as whole grains, legumes, bananas, brown rice and some other. They should be included in every meal you eat. Processed food, white flour, refined sugar and other low-fiber carbs are banned.

The first week is rough because you are limited to only 1200 calories, but after that, you switch to 1600 calories. 1600 calories limit is also pretty low for most adults, but this diet rich in fiber and complex carbs will make you feel full most of the time and keep your blood sugar in balance which will tame your cravings for unhealthy food. It is designed to be followed for 30 days but since it is healthy and balanced, you can stick to it much longer and maybe add 200-300 more calories per day if 1600 is too low for you.

For more information visit the Carb Lover's diet or you can order the Carb Lover's book.

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.

Before you try this diet, consult your doctor.

With this diet, you won't have to count calories or be denied carbs. You will even be encouraged to eat dark chocolate every single day. Inventor of this diet, Cynthia Sass, claims that 50-100 calories of dark chocolate per day boosts your metabolism and helps you lose weight. 

You will have to get used to eating 5 meals a day, spaced 3-5 hours apart. That will keep your blood sugar under control and help you reduce cravings. In this diet you are encouraged to eat includes fresh fruits and vegetables, skinless chicken, fish and other seafood, whole grain products, plant-based fats and low-fat dairy products. Red meat, pork, processed food, alcohol and sugary beverages are forbidden. This diet even offers tips on how to maintain your desired weight (once you reach it) and how to prevent emotional eating.

For more information visit the Cinch diet or order the Cinch diet book. 

Vegetarians and vegans can easily adjust this diet to their preferences. People with high cholesterol, heart condition or diabetes will benefit from this diet.