There are certain types of compounds in foods that are not conducive for healthy cholesterol levels. There are two that are worse than others. One is saturated fat, which is a type of fat that is predominantly found in foods that come from animal products. The other is cholesterol, which comes only from animal products. Saturated fat elevates your LDL more than anything else in the average diet. The chief cause for high cholesterol that eventually leads to heart disease is consuming excess amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol. Reducing the amount of cholesterol and saturated fat in your diet is a crucial step towards reducing your blood cholesterol levels. We have talked about the types of foods that will raise your cholesterol but there are different kinds of foods available that will also lower your cholesterol.
Eating soluble fiber can reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your bloodstream which lowers your (LDL), the "bad" cholesterol. By eating 6 to 11 grams or more of soluble fiber per day can decrease your overall cholesterol levels. An excellent example of a type of food that contains soluble fiber is oatmeal. Foods like kidney beans, bananas, apples, pears, barley and prunes are also an excellent source of soluble fiber. Consuming 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups of cooked oatmeal per day will provide you with about 8g of fiber. If you add fruit like bananas, you will add about another four grams of fiber to your meal. You can also add cold cereal made with oatmeal or oat bran to your menu of soluble fiber to eat.
Walnuts, almonds and other nuts are another type of food that can reduce your blood cholesterol level as well. These nuts have a lot of polyunsaturated fatty acids in them. If you are at the borderline of having heart disease, eating walnuts can help you push the line in your favor. They are not a cure-all but eating walnuts will help the situation. 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. But, this does not include nuts that are salted or coated with sugar. Since your overall goal is to improve your total cholesterol levels, limit yourself to just a handful of these nuts because they are high in calories. You should replace foods that are high in saturated fat with nuts. An easy way to this is to add a handful of walnuts or almonds instead of using cheese, meat or croutons in your salad.
Controlling your cholesterol can be tough at first when choosing the right foods to eat. Start by eating fatty fish and omega-3 fatty acids to control your cholesterol. If you are at risk for developing blood clots eating foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids will reduce your chances of serious health complications in the future. In people who have already had heart attacks, the fish oil, or omega-3 fatty acids, reduces the risk of sudden death. It is recommended that you include at least two servings of fish a week in your diet. Fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, salmon and halibut. You should bake or grill your fish to avoid having extra calories in your meal. You can also get small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids from foods like ground flaxseed or canola oil if you do not prefer fish.