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You just got your lab results back, and it's official: you have high cholesterol. Making a diet shift can be difficult to get used to, but it's important that you limit your intake of certain foods to avoid raising your LDL even higher. But which foods should you start cutting out? We'll cover that in this article and explain why, so read on.

Dairy

Milk, cheese, butter, and other dairy products are among the first foods you'll want to limit when you have high cholesterol. The reason is that they're often high in saturated fat—the type of fat that solidifies at room temperature, and the kind that raises your cholesterol.

Butter, especially, should be avoided. Just a single tablespoon of it contains 7.3g of saturated fat; in fact, a whole stick of butter is made up of around 80% fat. To put that into perspective, the American Heart Association recommends having less than 6% of your total calorie intake come from saturated fats. This means on a 2,000-calorie diet, you should eat no more than 11-13g of saturated fat—and two tablespoons of butter already exceeds that amount. This ingredient is also present in many baked goods and high-calorie dishes, so you'll always want to scan nutrition facts and lists before you dig in, and be mindful of what you choose to cook with.

Red Meat

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You shouldn't just avoid red meat for high cholesterol—the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) also recommends limiting your red (and processed) meat consumption because a high intake may be linked to an increased risk of colorectal cancer. So, if one doesn't scare you, the other should.

Just like butter and other dairy products, red meat is high in saturated fat. Processed meats, like bacon, should also be avoided as they contain a lot of preservatives and chemicals to give them their distinct flavors, which can raise your cancer risk as well.

The way you cook your meat matters, too. When you cook them at high temperatures, such as grilling over an open flame, chemicals like heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can form. HCAs and PAHs have been found to be mutagenic, meaning they can alter your DNA and increase your cancer risk.

Fried Foods

Whether it's French fries or deep-fried chicken, it's best to have these snacks occasionally and not regularly. Along with being high in calories, fried foods are also significantly high in fat—including trans fat—from all the oil they absorb during the cooking process, which makes them bad for the heart.

The good thing is that you can always switch up how your favorite crunchy eats are prepared. Instead of using a pot of oil, try using an air fryer or tossing in a pan with olive oil. You can also bake them in the oven to give them that perfect crisp without all the extra fat.

It's not always easy to make lifestyle and diet adjustments when you have high cholesterol, but there are methods that can make the shift easier. By limiting your intake of certain foods and changing how you prepare them, you can make things much easier on your heart.