What Are The Best Foods To Eat To Lower Cholesterol

Apples Citrus And Berries

Fruit is included as part of any heart-healthy eating pattern, and for good reason. Many fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and antioxidants. Pectin, a specific type of soluble fiber found in many fruits, including apples, citrus fruits, and berries, helps lower cholesterol in part by decreasing the amount of cholesterol made by the liver.

One small clinical trial of 40 adults found that those who ate two apples per day for eight weeks had lower LDL and total cholesterol levels compared with the control apple beverage.

Antioxidant compounds called polyphenols found in these fruits also provide anti-inflammatory effects that may reduce your risk of heart disease by lowering LDL cholesterol and preventing it from being oxidized.

Is Mayo Clinic Low Carb Diet

From the staff at the Mayo Clinic. A low-carb diet limits carbohydrates, such as those found in grains, starchy fruits and vegetables, and emphasizes foods high in protein and fat. There are many types of low-carb diets. Each diet has different restrictions on the types and amounts of carbohydrates you can eat.

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Red Meats And Processed Meats

Aim to reduce or eliminate animal products such as fatty cuts of beef or red meat and processed meat such as sausage and hot dogs. Examples of red meat with a higher saturated fat and cholesterol content include steak, beef roast, full-fat ground beef, and ribs.

If youre going to eat animal proteins, opt for lean meats like turkey, chicken , and pork loin. Healthier red meats like 90% lean ground beef and lean cuts of beef like tenderloin and flank steak are good alternatives to fatty cuts of red meat.

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The Best Nuts To Lower Your Cholesterol

All in all, the best nuts to lower your cholesterol have the highest amounts of unsaturated fats and the lowest amount of saturated fats. These include, but are not limited to:

• Walnuts
• Pistachios
• Almonds

Peanuts, too are heart-healthy, which may surprise you. In fact, the peanut is the most popular nut in the United States and contains high amounts of unsaturated fat and lower amounts of saturated fat.

The peanuts unsaturated fat profile encourages heart health. Even so, farmers have now developed a way to grow high-oleic peanuts, which have a higher content of unsaturated fat and lower content of saturated fat when compared with regular peanuts.

The Food and Drug Administration has given approval for peanuts and almonds to receive a heart-healthy distinction on their labeling.

Finally, its worthy to note that dry roasted, lightly salted nuts appear to have similar health benefits as eating raw nuts, according to a study in the European Journal of Nutrition. In this study, 72 participants consumed 30 grams per day of either raw or dry roasted, lightly salted hazelnuts for 28 days. Heart disease factors like cholesterol levels and blood pressure were measured at the beginning of the study and at the end.

Results revealed that compared to the beginning of the study, eating either form of hazelnuts significantly improved HDL levels and blood pressure, without a change in body fat.

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Putting Together A Low Cholesterol Diet

When it comes to investing money, experts recommend creating a portfolio of diverse investments instead of putting all your eggs in one basket. The same holds true for eating your way to lower cholesterol. Adding several foods to lower cholesterol in different ways should work better than focusing on one or two.

A largely vegetarian “dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods” substantially lowers LDL, triglycerides, and blood pressure. The key dietary components are plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains instead of highly refined ones, and protein mostly from plants. Add margarine enriched with plant sterols oats, barley, psyllium, okra, and eggplant, all rich in soluble fiber soy protein and whole almonds.

Of course, shifting to a cholesterol-lowering diet takes more attention than popping a daily statin. It means expanding the variety of foods you usually put in your shopping cart and getting used to new textures and flavors. But it’s a “natural” way to lower cholesterol, and it avoids the risk of muscle problems and other side effects that plague some people who take statins.

Just as important, a diet that is heavy on fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts is good for the body in ways beyond lowering cholesterol. It keeps blood pressure in check. It helps arteries stay flexible and responsive. It’s good for bones and digestive health, for vision and mental health.

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How Does Cholesterol Work

Cholesterol is a waxy substance that can clog arteries if theres too much of it in the body. Your body makes cholesterol naturally, but when you eat too many foods that also contain cholesterol, these can combine to create an excess of cholesterol in your body. And thats when things can turn bad.

There are two main types of cholesterol: HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, and LDL, or low-density lipoprotein. HDL is known as good cholesterol, since it works to remove LDL , from your arteries. So, foods that are said to help maintain healthy cholesterol can either increase HDL, lower LDL, or both.

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How Can I Lower Cholesterol With Diet

Heart-healthy lifestyle changes include a diet to lower your cholesterol. The DASH eating plan is one example. Another is the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet, which recommends that you

Choose healthier fats.You should limit both total fat and saturated fat. No more than 25 to 35% of your daily calories should come from dietary fats, and less than 7% of your daily calories should come from saturated fat. Depending upon how many calories you eat per day, here are the maximum amounts of fats that you should eat:

Calories per Day
69-97 grams	17 grams

Saturated fat is a bad fat because it raises your LDL level more than anything else in your diet. It is found in some meats, dairy products, chocolate, baked goods, and deep-fried and processed foods.

Trans fat is another bad fat it can raise your LDL and lower you HDL . Trans fat is mostly in foods made with hydrogenated oils and fats, such as stick margarine, crackers, and french fries.

Instead of these bad fats, try healthier fats, such as lean meat, nuts, and unsaturated oils like canola, olive, and safflower oils.

Limit foods with cholesterol. If you are trying to lower your cholesterol, you should have less than 200 mg a day of cholesterol. Cholesterol is in foods of animal origin, such as liver and other organ meats, egg yolks, shrimp, and whole milk dairy products.

Eat plenty of soluble fiber. Foods high in soluble fiber help prevent your digestive tract from absorbing cholesterol. These foods include:

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Foods That Lower Your Cholesterol

Some foods can actively help to lower your cholesterol and they all work in different ways. Try to include these foods in your meals whenever you can:

1. Oats and barley

Eating whole grain foods reduces your risk of heart disease. Oats and barley are extra special because they are high in a type of soluble fibre called ‘beta glucan’. Beta glucan helps to lower ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol in your blood2,3.

Tip: Flavoured oat products like ‘Quick Oats’ often contain added salt and/or sugar. Choose products that contain 100% oats as they’re closest to how theyre found in nature.

2. Vegetables and fruit

Eating a variety of colourful vegetables and fruit everyday can help protect you against heart disease, stroke and some cancers4,5. Many vegetables and fruit are high in soluble fibre which helps to reduce the absorption of cholesterol and lower ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol in your blood.

Tip: Leave the skins on vegetables like pumpkin, kmara and carrot to maximise your intake of fibre. Use orange and lemon peel in dressings and sauces.

3. Foods rich in heart-healthy fats

Eating plenty of foods that contain heart-healthy mono and poly-unsaturated fats increases the levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol in your blood.

These foods contain heart-healthy fats.

• Avocado
• Olives
• Vegetable oils and spreads

Eating these foods instead of foods high in saturated fat improves your cholesterol. Itll reduce your risk of heart disease too6.

4. Legumes and beans

5. Nuts

6. Soy products

7. Plant sterols

Olive Oil And Avocados

Extra virgin olive oil is low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fatty acids, which is supportive of heart health and can increase your HDL. Avocados have similar properties. Extra virgin olive oil and avocados should be used as staple fat in a heart-healthy diet to replace saturated fats like butter, margarine and white condiments like mayonnaise, sour cream and cream cheese, says Zumpano. When you start to utilize plant-based fats to replace animal fats, that will help lower your cholesterol and improve your overall heart health.

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Which Foods Are The Best To Lower Cholesterol

Theres a long list of foods you can eat in order to help your cholesterol levels. While no single food may be responsible for dramatic decreases, incorporating several heart-healthy foods can definitely get your levels to more acceptable levels. Elena Paravantes, a registered dietitian nutritionist and author of the book The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners says, foods that are rich in soluble fiber are very beneficial for cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and turns into a gel-like substance. Other good choices are monounsaturated fats and foods that contain natural plant sterols such as nuts and seeds.

Below, weve included a list of the best foods that lower cholesterol.

Saturated And Trans Fats

Foods high in saturated and trans fats top the list of items to reduce or eliminate on a low cholesterol diet. The American Heart Association recommends reducing saturated fat to less than 6% of total daily calories if you need to lower cholesterol levels. Trans fats are found in margarine, baked goods, non-dairy coffee creamer, and fried foods. Saturated fats are in many common foods, so its helpful to read food labels while shopping.

Interestingly, lard, which is pork fat, is lower in saturated fat and higher in monounsaturated fat than butter. It has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids. That said, it is still a middle-of-the-road choice when it comes to cooking, and whenever possible, you should opt for healthier fats like olive oil.

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Treatment For High Cholesterol

Making lifestyle changes, especially changing some of the foods you eat, and regular physical activity, are very important to help reduce high LDL cholesterol.

You may also need to take cholesterol-lowering medicines to help manage your cholesterol and reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Talk to your doctor about finding the most appropriate treatment for you.

What Is High Cholesterol

You have two main types of blood cholesterol in your body: low-density lipoprotein , which is often called bad cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein , often referred to as good cholesterol. Total cholesterol is a combination of LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Thenormal range for total cholesterol is 125-200 mg/dL . Anything above that is considered high.

According toRobert Greenfield, MD, cardiologist and lipidologist at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center, certain foods and diets can influence cholesterol levels in your body.

The best diet for high cholesterol will include specific foods you should eat and ones to avoid. Read on to discover tips on how to lower cholesterol levels through medication, exercise, and other lifestyle modifications.

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Are You Serious About Reducing Cholesterol

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Milk: Whole Is Better Than Skim For Higher Good Cholesterol

A six-week, randomized and controlled study on the effects of whole milk and skim milk on cholesterol levels found that drinking a half-liter of whole milk per day significantly increased good HDL cholesterol, while skim milk had little effect. Additionally, neither whole nor skim milk has a statistically significant impact on bad LDL cholesterol or triglycerides.

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Reasons Nuts Are A Great Snack

Whats so great about nuts? Here are 5 reasons you should be eating more of them:

Heart-healthy Unsaturated Fats: Fat is essential for vitamin absorption, energy, maintaining cell membranes, and much more. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are the two types of good fat our bodies need to help lower cholesterol levels and many nuts are high in these types of fats.

Easy Vitamin E: Vitamin E can help prevent the development of plaque in arteries, making it easier for blood to flow through. Plaque buildup in the arteries can lead to chest pain and heart disease.

Filling Fiber: All nuts contain fiber, which will help you to feel full. Fiber also helps to control blood sugar levels and keep cholesterol in check.

Powerful Protein: Nuts are a source of l-arginine which is an amino acid, a building block that makes up protein. This amino acid helps keep arteries flexible and reduces the risk of blood clots.

Ready to Travel: No means of refrigeration? No problem! Nuts are perfect for travel and being rich in fiber, healthy fats, and protein makes them a balanced snack option.

Treat your friends to a batch! Attach a nice ribbon and gift tag to a mason jar and its ready for gift-giving!

Red Wine Or Grapes: A Toast To Resveratrol

A plant-based chemical known as resveratrol, found in the red grapes used to make red wine, can help to lower blood levels of LDL cholesterol. It also appears to protect against coronary artery disease, thanks to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Furthermore, a glass of red wine with a meal can help prevent the constriction of blood vessels that can follow a fatty meal and lead to atherosclerosis and heart attack.

If you don’t drink, don’t start now. You can get resveratrol from red, black, and purple grapes, and from blueberries, cranberries, and even peanut butter. If you do drink alcohol, limit your consumption of red wine to one or two 5 oz glasses a day.

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Benefits Of Drinking Water

Although to many of us water sounds boring, it really is the best beverage to drink. Not least because it contains no calories or fat. However, water can also have a positive effect on your cholesterol levels.

Cholesterol increases the acidity in your body, but by drinking water, the acidity is diluted, preventing the damage cholesterol causes to the body.

Staying hydrated also helps to keep your blood fluid, making it easy to pass through your arteries. It also increases your metabolism. The NHS advises that you drink 6 to 8 glasses of fluid a day.

Food Supplements That Do Not Help With Cholesterol

Many extracts and supplements have been promoted for their overall health benefits and lipid-lowering effects, but do they work?

We reviewed the available scientific research and found that the following supplements had no good evidence to support those claims:

• Selenium: Supplements may help lower cholesterol in people with low levels of selenium, but not in people with normal levels of selenium. There is not enough scientific evidence to say that selenium protects against cardiovascular disease.

• Calcium: Results here are mixed, but the bottom line is calcium supplementation does not improve cholesterol levels.

• Garlic supplements: Raw, powdered, and aged garlic supplements had no effect on cholesterol levels.

• Policosanol: This substance, which is extracted from sugar cane wax, did not improve cholesterol.

• Coconut oil supplements: There is mixed evidence about the cardiovascular benefits or harm of coconut oil. It is not an evidence-based alternative treatment for high cholesterol levels.

• Coconut water: There is no high-quality data about coconut water improving cholesterol levels.

• Resveratrol supplements: There is no evidence that these improve cholesterol levels in humans.

• Soy isoflavones supplements: Taking supplements of soy isoflavones does not improve cholesterol levels.

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Eggs: Keep It To One A Day And Youll Be Okay

Although a large egg contains about 187 mg of cholesterol, eating less than 250 mg of eggs each day doesnt appear to be significantly associated with cardiovascular death in American adults. However, eating more than 250 mg of eggs each day is associated with higher all-cause mortality in participants. However, no significant link was found between dietary cholesterol consumption and mortality related to heart disease. Dont cook your eggs in butter, and skip the side of bacon.

What Should You Eat To Lower Your Cholesterol

Nutrition is a highly complex topic, but eating a nutritious diet can be as simple as you want it to be. And most of us want it to be simple, so well start with some general rules of thumb for eating to lower your bad LDL cholesterol and raise your good HDL cholesterol.

• Cholesterols in food, which comes exclusively from animal products, dont necessarily raise your blood cholesterol. But in many cases, foods that have cholesterol also have high levels of saturated fat, which can increase bad cholesterol in your body.
• Strive to consume mostly plants in your dietfruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, and whole grains.
• Dont be afraid to perk up your lean meats and vegetables with lots of herbs and spices, which have numerous positive nutritional properties.
• Stay hydrated throughout the day to keep your bodys system working optimally.
• Aim to eat mostly whole, unprocessed or lightly processed foods. In general, the less processed it is, the better it is for you. Highly processed foods contain a lot of added sugar, unhealthy fats, salt, artificial ingredients, and chemical preservatives.

Here is a high-level rundown of the groups of foods that help lower cholesterol, followed by some tips for creating a cholesterol-lowering meal plan that works for you.

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