Cholesterol

[Biz]

Hi all
on the recommendation of my vet I have Been suggested to give more ”healthy human foods” to my conure, which I assume means more cholesterol rich food because of my conures low cholesterol
does anyone have any good cholesterol rich foods that they give to their parrots?

 

[Shezbug]

Can you ask your vet for examples of the types of food they mean? - cholesterol can be good and bad and I would hate for you to be advised to feed foods with the wrong cholesterol.

 

[Xoetix]

I would definitely ask for clarification. When I think of “healthy human foods,” food that’s high in cholesterol is not what springs to mind.

 

[Mizzely]

When my vet says healthy human foods, he means fruits, veggies, grains, beans, nuts, etc. If you're trying to lower bad cholesterol, studies in humans show that this is best done using exercise and foods low in saturated fat.

Why do you think your bird is low enough in cholesterol to need more?

Nuts would be my choice in this instance if that is truly the case.

 

[MommyBird]

you say you "assume" it means you need cholesterol rich foods. You really need NOT to assume and get the exact answer on that.
There are different types of cholesterol LDL and HDL One is termed bad, the other good. you don't want to feed the bad LDL kind.
I even wonder if you vet might mean more good fatty acids like omega-3 (walnuts)? Since you don't actually know what he meant.
One high-cholesterol food that many birds get on occasion, not regularly, is scrambled eggs.
And, Red Palm Oil will raise LDL cholesterol (bad) but it has beta carotenes, the precurser to Vitamin A which is often dangerously low in birds. While these are found in safer sources like carrots and broccoli, birds are sometimes supplemented with RPO which most love.