Foods That Lower Cholesterol

In case you are suffering from high cholesterol levels than you are probably interested in ways to lower your cholesterol levels. The best and most recommended way to do that is to start eating the right type of foods and avoid eating the “bad” foods.

I already covered the High Cholesterol Foods to Avoid in a previous article and I strongly recommend you check it out and learn which foods are “bad” for you and your cholesterol levels.

In this article I will share with you the Foods That Lower Cholesterol in order to provide with you a complete picture about food and cholesterol hoping it will make your life easier and help you get your cholesterol levels down.

So here are the good foods that will help you lower your cholesterol levels:

Oatmeal, Oat Bran and High-Fiber Foods

Oatmeal is the ideal breakfast food that you can also complement a selection of fruits to provide you with the perfect start to your day. Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which reduces your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol. You will also find soluble fiber in foods such as kidney beans, apples, pears, barley and prunes.

Soluble fiber reduces the absorption of cholesterol into your bloodstream. Five to 10 grams or more of soluble fiber a day decreases your total and LDL cholesterol. Eating 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal provides 6 grams of fiber. If you add fruit, such as bananas, you’ll add about 4 more grams of fiber. To mix it up a little, try steel-cut oatmeal or cold cereal made with oatmeal or oat bran.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and for various reasons many people skip it. Since egg yolks are something you should avoid when dealing with high cholesterol levels, oatmeal is the perfect replacement for your breakfast and you really should start your day off with the boost of energy that will also help to curb your hunger as you approach night time.

Olive Oil

Apart from being very tasty and adding a distinct taste to any dish it is added to, Olive oil also has many health benefits. The beneficial health effects of olive oil are due to both its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids and its high content of antioxidative substances. Studies have shown that olive oil offers protection against heart disease by controlling LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels while raising HDL (the “good” cholesterol) levels.

No other naturally produced oil has as large an amount of monounsaturated as olive oil. Although it is technically an oil (and not food) it is considered to be among the best foods to lower cholesterol levels.

Garlic

Garlic is a great addition to dozens for dishes even if you don’t take into account the health benefits it brings to the table. Garlic has antibacterial properties and amongst the most interesting potential applications are suggestions that garlic might be able to assist some people in the management of blood pressure cholesterol levels.

Modern science has shown that garlic is a powerful natural antibiotic, albeit broad-spectrum rather than targeted. The bacteria in the body do not appear to evolve resistance to the garlic as they do to many modern pharmaceutical antibiotics. This means that its positive health benefits can continue over time rather than helping to breed antibiotic resistant “superbugs”.

Garlic has many health benefits and you should include it into your diet and the great plus about it is that it can actually make many dishes taste so much better.

Berries

Berries are excellent for helping you lower cholesterol levels and they are a handy snack that comes in a natural package as opposed to the candies, chips or other snacks that many of us eat on a regular basis.

Berry pigments are usually antioxidants in vitro and thus have oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) that is high among plant foods. Together with good nutrient content, ORAC derived in the laboratory distinguishes several berries within a new category of functional foods called “superfruits”.

Broccoli

Broccoli is an excellent source of nutrition and there are many ways to boost the taste level when preparing it. It is probably not the most popular vegetable out there but in terms of health, it really can’t be beaten and that is exactly why you should include it in your diet.

Broccoli is high in vitamin C, as well as dietary fiber; it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, such as diindolylmethane and small amounts of selenium. A high intake of broccoli has been found to reduce the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Broccoli consumption has also been shown to be beneficial in the prevention of heart disease and lower cholesterol levels.

Fish and Omega-3

Salmon is actually high in the good type of cholesterol that you should be looking for on a regular basis. Best of all there are many brilliant recipes that bring salmon to life and it is very easy to prepare if you know what you’re doing. It can be grilled, poached, baked, or even eaten raw if you are a fan of sushi.

The Omega three fatty acids lower the bad type of cholesterol in addition to having beneficial effects for your skin as well. The highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids are in Mackerel, Lake trout, Herring, Sardines, Albacore tuna, Salmon and Halibut. It is recommended to bake or grill the fish to avoid adding unhealthy fats. If you don’t like fish, you can also get small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids from foods like ground flaxseed or canola oil.

Walnuts, Almonds and Nuts

Almonds, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts and peanuts are all are good choices that make great snacks, have antioxidant properties and reduce blood cholesterol. Rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, walnuts also help keep blood vessels healthy.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, eating about a handful (1.5 ounces, or 42.5 grams) a day of most nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts, may reduce your risk of heart disease. Just make sure the nuts you eat aren’t salted or coated with sugar.

Keep in mind that all nuts are high in calories, so a handful will do. To avoid eating too many nuts and gaining weight, replace foods high in saturated fat with nuts. For example, instead of using cheese, meat or croutons in your salad, add a handful of walnuts or almonds.

Soy Products

Try eating high-quality soy foods such as tempeh, tofu, or edamame instead of meat. Soy foods may not improve your cholesterol levels on their own, but they will give you a healthy dose of protein and will cut out artery-clogging dietary cholesterol found in meat.

Soy protein contains all of the amino acids the body needs, and has become very popular in recent years as a substitute for animal protein. In 1999, the FDA boosted soy protein’s popularity by allowing manufacturers to indicate that these products may help reduce the risk of heart disease.

In terms of the link between soy and cholesterol, 27 clinical studies pointed to soy protein’s ability to lower LDL cholesterol levels. One of the studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1995 concluded that soy protein can significantly lower total and LDL (bad) cholesterol as well as triglycerides (fats), another leading risk factor of heart disease.

Probiotic Yogurt

This is a delicious dessert alternative that you can have instead of eating a cholesterol filled cake. It’s also good instead of ice cream or as a simple snack to keep yourself going in the middle of the day. You can also combine it with fruits to improve the nutritional value.

Taken from WHFoods.com: Daily consumption of 3 ounces (100 g) of probiotic yogurt (yogurt containing health-promoting bacteria) significantly improved the cholesterol profile, lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol while raising HDL (good) cholesterol, in women volunteers. In the women consuming probiotic yogurt, not only did levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol decrease significantly, but their HDL (good) cholesterol substantially increased. Women consuming conventional yogurt also experienced a significant drop in LDL cholesterol, although their HDL did not rise.

The take-home message: adding a daily cup of yogurt—preferably a yogurt with probiotic bacteria—to your healthy way of eating is an easy and delicious way to improve your cholesterol profile.

Now You Know

Now you know which foods you should add to your daily diet in order to lower your cholesterol levels. If you combine these Foods That Lower Cholesterol with the list of High Cholesterol Foods to Avoid than you have all the information you need in order to build your own special low cholesterol diet and get your cholesterol levels in check without any medication.

If you know of additional Foods That Lower Cholesterol than please share them with me and all the readers by commenting below. I will do the best I can to include them in the article as I will edit it in the future.

Stay healthy