What can you do to improve your cholesterol levels? Here’s a quick list to get you started.
* Reduce fat in your diet
Buy the leanest cuts of meat you can find. Regularly substitute poultry (without skin) and fish for red meat. Both are lower in saturated fat. Switch to low-fat cottage cheese and yogurt, low-fat hard cheeses, and skim or 1 percent milk.
* Do not eat more than four egg yolks a week
An average egg yolk contains 213 milligrams of cholesterol!
* Eliminate fried foods
Do not fry food. Instead, roast, bake, broil, or poach them. Use fat-free marinades or drizzle with liquids like wine, tomato, or lemon juice. Use olive or canola oil for sautéing or baking. Both are very low in saturated fat. Use diet, bottled, or squeeze margarines instead of regular. Keep an eye out for the term “hydrogenated,” which means that some of the fat is saturated.
* Eat vegetables and complex carbohydrates
The foods with the least fat of all are vegetables, fruits, cereals (rice, barley and pasta), beans and legumes. Try substituting some of these for meat and high-fat dairy products. Don’t drizzle your pasta with butter or your potato with sour cream. Use tomato-based sauces instead of cream-based. Use lemon juice, low sodium soy sauce, or herbs to season the vegetables. Prepare chili with beans and additional seasonings excluding meat.
* Lose weight
If you are overweight, the chances are almost 100% that you have a problem with high cholesterol. You can lower your LDL and increase your HDL simply by dropping a few pounds.
* Nuts for you!
Do you like nuts? If you do, sprinkle some on your cereal, bake them into muffins or pancakes, or add them to casseroles or stir-fries. Walnuts and almonds are especially good. Eating about three ounces of walnuts a day has been shown to lower blood cholesterol levels by 10% more than a diet low in fat and cholesterol.
* eat chocolate
Oh! All chocoholics unite! Studies indicate that the fat in chocolate is stearic acid and has no effect on cholesterol levels. Chocolate does not raise LDL and may raise HDL slightly. But chocolate is still high in fat and calories, so don’t overdo it.
* Drink fruit juices
Some of the non-alcoholic ingredients in red wine appear to increase HDL and prevent the body from producing LDL. Purple grape juice works the same way. The LDL-lowering effect of red wine and grape juice comes from a compound that grapes normally produce to resist mold. The darker the grape juice, the better. Grapefruit juice does the same thing and can also help rid your body of nasty plaque.
* eat garlic
The cholesterol-lowering effects of garlic have been shown repeatedly in people with normal and high cholesterol. Eat all the garlic you can. It also seems to raise HDL levels. If you are concerned about the smell, take the tablets instead.
* Take niacin – carefully
It has been shown to be effective in lowering LDL and increasing HDL. It is also one of the cheapest cholesterol-lowering drugs available. But, without medical supervision, it may not be completely safe. A dose high enough to lower cholesterol can cause extremely high blood sugar or liver damage.
* Take vitamin E
Studies indicate that vitamin E may have a positive cholesterol-lowering impact when taken in fairly large amounts, up to 800 IU per day. This is more than you can get from your diet alone. Larger amounts do not appear to cause any harm. Other studies have shown that even amounts as low as 25 IU per day help prevent LDL from sticking to blood vessel walls. That amount is only slightly higher than the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of 12 to 15 IU. It is interesting to note that even that small amount has an impact on preventing hardening of the arteries.
* take calcium
One study indicates that when 56 people took a calcium carbonate supplement, their total cholesterol decreased by 4 percent and their HDL increased by 4 percent. That was taking a 400-milligram dose of calcium three times a day with no ill effects. That refers to calcium carbonate.
* Take vitamin C
It is the number one immune system booster and also increases HDL. A study of people who took more than 60 milligrams of vitamin C per day (60 milligrams is the RDA) had the highest levels of HDL.
*Fill up on fiber
As little as three grams per day of fiber from oat bran or oat flour can be effective. There are also other sources of fiber, such as barley, beans, peas, and many other vegetables. Pectin, found in fruits like apples and prunes, lowers cholesterol even better than oat bran, as does psyllium, which is the fiber found in many breakfast cereals and bulk laxatives. .
* leave the tuxedo
Smoking promotes the development of atherosclerosis. Tobacco smoke is actually more damaging to the heart than it is to the lungs. Smokers are more likely to have a heart attack (three times more than non-smokers) and have a greater risk of dying from a heart attack (twenty-one times more than non-smokers). Even if you’ve smoked for years, quitting now can help fight it right away. the development of atherosclerosis.
* Reduce sugar intake
Many people don’t realize that sugar affects cholesterol and it definitely affects triglycerides. Sugar stimulates insulin production, which in turn increases triglycerides. Men in particular seem to be sensitive to this effect of sugar. The mineral chromium, which helps stabilize blood sugar, can also raise HDL levels. 100 mcg of chromium three times a day can help improve cholesterol levels.
* Exercising regularly
There is positive evidence that exercise can lower LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol. Both aerobic exercise, such as walking, jogging, swimming, bicycling, and cross-country skiing, and strength training, such as lifting weights or using weight machines, promote improved cholesterol levels.
* Eliminate caffeine
We Americans definitely have a love affair with our coffee! People who drink large amounts of caffeine (more than 6 cups a day) are much more likely to have elevated cholesterol levels. That connection doesn’t hold true for tea drinkers. Limit your coffee intake to no more than one cup a day and cut out caffeinated soft drinks completely.
