Cholesterol is carried through the blood in molecules called lipoproteins. The two most commonly discussed in relation to heart health are low density lipoproteins (LDL) and high density lipoproteins (HDL). LDL (bad) deposit cholesterol inside your arteries. HDL (good) carry cholesterol to the liver to dispose of it or recycle it for future cell and hormone production, which makes it less likely that excess cholesterol in the blood will be dumped in the coronary arteries where it can build up.
Your genes determine how much cholesterol your body produces naturally. The rest comes from the foods you eat. EatingWell recommends taking the following steps to help prevent, or lower, high blood cholesterol levels.
Saturated fats increase LDL cholesterol. Keep your intake of saturated fat to less than 7 percent of your total daily calories. (If you eat 2,000 calories per day, this is less than 15.5 grams of saturated fat.) The main sources of saturated fat are whole milk and full-fat dairy products, butter, red meat, chocolate and palm oil.
High blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, high cholesterol, diabetes and circulation problems are all medical risk factors, which are controllable, for stroke. Medical risk factors are often caused by a combination of things including family history. Medical risk factors are treatable by medications and special diets. Talk to your healthcare professional about options available and together come up with a plan that best fits you.
High Blood Pressure : Get your blood pressure check regularly High blood pressure is the number-one cause of stroke. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. High blood pressure causes the heart to pump harder to move blood through the body. This can weaken blood vessels and damage major organs, such as the brain. People who have high blood pressure have one and a half times the risk of having a stroke compared to those who consistently have optimal blood pressure of 120/80. The most important thing you can do is to control it. This can be accomplished through healthy eating habits, physical activity, or medications.
High Cholesterol
High cholesterol in the arteries can block normal flow to the brain and cause a stroke. With high cholesterol your risk for heart disease and atherosclerosis also increase. Total cholesterol levels under 200 are recommended and if yours is higher, it can be controlled through healthy eating habits, physical activity, or medications.
Diabetes
image of finger prick blood glucose testerIn people with diabetes, the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin (Type I Diabetes) or the cells ignore the insulin (Type II Diabetes). Without insulin, the body can't process sugar, which is the basic fuel for the cells in the body. People with diabetes are up to four times more likely to have a stroke than people who don’t, mainly because people with diabetes often have other stroke risk factors, such as high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and high cholesterol. Weight loss, exercise, changes in eating habits, oral medications, and insulin shots are all ways to control diabetes.
Good Cholesterol Foods to Raise HDL Levels and Lowering LDL Naturally
Having cholesterol levels checked regularly and eating a diet high in good cholesterol foods and cholesterol lowering foods is an excellent way to help improve your overall health while also lowering your risk for serious medical conditions such as heart disease.
Knowing and understanding as much as possible about ‘good’ cholesterol and ‘bad’ cholesterol, and how they work, is the key to taking control of your own health.
Cholesterol Is both Produced in Your Body AND Comes from the Food You Eat
Cholesterol is a natural compound found in the body and is comprised of a combination of steroids and fats. This compound is necessary for your body to function properly and is an essential component in building cell membranes. Your body needs cholesterol to be able to produce numerous hormones such as estrogen and testosterone.
The liver, where the compound is stored and released as the body needs it, regulates cholesterol levels in the body.
The liver produces roughly 75% of the cholesterol in the human body and the remaining 25% comes to the body from the foods we eat. We ingest the dietary cholesterol mainly from animal products including dairy, poultry, meat and fish as well as some very low traces from plant-based foods.
Understanding Good Cholesterol & Bad Cholesterol
Cholesterol builds cells and produces hormones necessary to the body, but not all cholesterol is good. You can find two main types of this compound in the body, and knowing the difference between them is important as too much or even too little of either can cause numerous detrimental health issues.
Good Cholesterol
Good cholesterol foods: Thumbs up for good cholesterolAlso known as HDLs or high-density lipoproteins, good cholesterol’s main function is to pull bad cholesterol away from the walls of your arteries and prevent a condition called atherosclerosis where your arteries become clogged, either partially or even completely.
HDLs help to carry excess cholesterol into the liver, where the liver breaks it down, after which the cholesterol leaves the body in the form of bile.
Health care professionals recommend that you raise good cholesterol levels as high as possible to achieve optimal health and reduce your risk for heart related conditions.
Bad Cholesterol
Good cholesterol foods: Thumbs down for bad cholesterol.On the other side of the spectrum, low-density lipoproteins or LDLs for short are bad cholesterol.
Like good cholesterol, the body also produces LDLs naturally; however, multiple other factors determine how much you actually have. Studies report that certain inherited genes can cause the body to make too much bad cholesterol as can consuming too many animal products.
Too much of this substance in the body will inevitably put you in a greater risk category for heart and artery related issues, so it is wise to combat this problem as early as possible, especially if a known family history of high cholesterol is present.
While lowering cholesterol naturally is typically the most advised course of action, it is not always possible for everyone. Consult your health care professional about other treatments and methods that may work better for you.
Total Cholesterol Levels
If you receive your test results and your total cholesterol reading is registering at 240 mg/dL or higher, health care professionals will consider you to be in the high-risk category.
You are twice as likely to have coronary heart disease in your lifetime if your total cholesterol reading is greater than 240. Health care professionals recommend that you keep your total cholesterol readings to 200 mg/dL or less to lower your risk of heart related disease dramatically.
Good and Bad Cholesterol Levels
Besides the overall blood cholesterol test, the results report the individual readings for good and bad cholesterol in your blood as well.
Good Cholesterol Levels
HDL cholesterol readings measuring 60 mg/dL and above are very positive. Readings that are below 50 mg/dL for women and 40 mg/dL for men are considered low and health care professionals will typically recommend that you attempt to raise good cholesterol to a healthier level.
Bad Cholesterol Levels
Optimal LDL readings measure at 100 mg/dL or less. Readings between 100 and 159 can likely be lowered using natural methods while readings of 160 or higher are extremely high and will likely require medical attention.
Ultimately, your HDLs should be as high as possible and your LDL reading should be as low as possible to obtain and maintain optimal health, the specific number ranges give you a better idea of what ‘ideal’ test results look like.
Tips for Lowering Cholesterol Naturally
If your readings from your cholesterol test leave room for improvement, a number of methods are available for lowering cholesterol naturally with good cholesterol foods. Some of these methods include:
● Getting Regular Exercise – Recent studies show that getting some form of exercise three to five days per week can help raise good cholesterol by nearly 10%.
● Avoid Saturated Fat – While these fats are a necessary part of our diet, researchers are slowly discovering that fat intake does affect cholesterol levels.
● Change your diet to include more good cholesterol foods.
● Include more fiber into your daily diet.
These relatively easy methods are a natural solution to an increasing health problem.
A Healthy List of Good Cholesterol Foods
Good cholesterol foods are those foods that naturally lower levels of bad cholesterol or contain HDLs.
Cholesterol lowering foods are an important component to our diet because they not only provide the key to lowering cholesterol naturally but they also contain other chemical components and nutrients that keep our bodies functioning at an optimal healthy level.
Fish
Good cholesterol foods: Photo of three tuna fish in the ocean.One of the best good cholesterol foods you can add to your diet is fish. Found in a variety of fish, Omega-3 fatty acids naturally lower cholesterol.
The types of fish considered especially good cholesterol foods include:
● Albacore Tuna
● Salmon
● Halibut
● Mackerel
● Herring
Omega-3 acids also prevent blood clots and sudden death in those who have previously suffered heart attacks, making them extra ‘heart healthy’ with good cholesterol foods.
Fiber
Good cholesterol foods: Danish rye bread with lots of whole grains.Including more fiber in your diet can help reduce your bad cholesterol levels dramatically.
Foods containing substantial amounts of fiber are good cholesterol foods because they soak up a large amount of bad cholesterol and prevent it from being absorbed into the blood stream.
Fiber rich edibles considered good cholesterol foods include:
● Whole Grains
● Oatmeal
● Fruits – especially bananas, pears, apples, avocados, prunes and berries
● Vegetables – especially broccoli, cabbage, carrots, Brussels sprouts, greens, pumpkin and sweet potatoes
● Beans
● Oats
● Barley
● Flax-seed
Medical communities acknowledge that adding even five to ten extra grams of dietary fiber to your diet daily will lower your LDL levels and achieve your cholesterol goals.
Nuts
Hazelnuts are good cholesterol foods: Nuts in a yellow bowl. Full of polyunsaturated fats, nuts keep blood vessels and arteries healthy and are good cholesterol foods.
Numerous studies over the last decade conclude that regular consumption of nuts is beneficial for lowering cholesterol naturally as it helps lower LDL levels.
This type of food also contains heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids and reduces arterial inflammation.
Types of nuts considered especially good cholesterol foods include:
● Walnuts
● Almonds
● Pecans
● Pistachio Nuts
● Hazelnuts
● Peanuts
Nuts are, however, high in calories so try to limit intake to about 1.5 ounces per day.
Plant Sterols and Stanols
Good cholesterol foods: Plant stenols and a glass of orange juice.Sterols and stanols are substances in plants that prevent the absorption of bad cholesterol.
Good cholesterol foods include those containing or fortified with sterols and stanols and adding at least 2 grams of them to your diet each day will lower cholesterol naturally by nearly ten percent.
Sterols and stanols are naturally present in some foods but sometimes are an added nutrient.
Effective cholesterol lowering foods in this category are:
● Orange Juice
● Margarine
● Yogurt
● Legumes
● Granola
Additional Good Cholesterol Foods
Along with fish, fiber, nuts and plant sterols, numerous other foods promote healthy cholesterol levels.
Knowing what these foods are and incorporating them into your diet can be a great help in managing not only your cholesterol but your overall health as well.
Dark chocolate can also be good cholesterol foods.While eating chocolate to maintain healthy cholesterol may seem to good to be true, recent studies have shown that eating about a half ounce of rich, authentic dark chocolate every day can help raise your good cholesterol levels by nearly nine percent.
Good cholesterol foods: Raw garlic.In the medical community, garlic is known as a good cholesterol food due to its ability to help fight off fungus, bacteria and viruses, and now for its ability to promote healthy cholesterol levels.
A popular food seasoning, garlic is a known antioxidant and, as such, helps prevent bad cholesterol from oxidizing.
It also raises HDL levels and aids in keeping our arteries clear and healthy.
A glass of red wine is also an example of good cholesterol foods.It stands to reason that most who consume red wine on a regular basis are unaware of its cholesterol benefits.
Similar to garlic, red wine is another powerful antioxidant that aids in lowering bad cholesterol and raising HDL. If you are against alcohol consumption or are alcohol intolerant, you can still reap the same benefits by drinking natural dark grape juice or by eating grapes with the skin left on.
Good cholesterol foods and drinks: Bowls with green tea leaves.Yet another powerful antioxidant, green tea helps in lowering bad cholesterol and raise HDL, just like red wine and garlic.
Green tea also possesses additional benefits for the consumer in the form of polyphenols, which block the absorption of bad cholesterol into our system.
Final Notes on Good Cholesterol Foods to Lower Cholesterol Naturally
For those suffering from high cholesterol, your health care professional will usually recommend that you take immediate action to get this issue under control so that you can lower your risk for coronary heart disease, heart attacks and other serious heart related issues.
While medication often controls cholesterol levels, getting regular exercise and incorporating good cholesterol foods are the most effective ways to lower cholesterol and promote heart health.
Low Cholesterol Diets & High Cholesterol Foods
Cholesterol and Our Diets
Eating too much saturated fat increases cholesterol levels. However, research has shown that cutting down on saturated fat and replacing it with everyday foods that contain more unsaturated fat can improve our cholesterol levels.
Foods that increase cholesterol
Eating too much saturated fat increases cholesterol levels. This is why it is best to limit the amount of foods we eat that are high in saturated fats such as:
- Butter
- Ghee
- Hard margarines
- Lard, dripping and goose fat
- Fatty meat and meat products such as sausages
- Full fat cheese, milk, cream and yogurt
- Coconut and palm oils and coconut cream
Foods that naturally help to lower cholesterol
Plants do not contain cholesterol and are usually low in saturated fat so vegetables and other plant-based foods should feature regularly in a diet to lower cholesterol. These include oat cereals, barley fruit, vegetables, soya foods and drinks, beans and pulses, nuts and seeds such as:
- Porridge
- Oatbran
- Oat breakfast cereals
- Bread made with 50% oat flour or oat bran
- Oatcakes
- Pearl barley
- Baked beans
Red lentils, green lentils
Vegetables rich in soluble fibre such as okra, aubergine, citrus fruits, turnip, sweet potato and mango
Unsalted soya nuts (also called roasted edamame beans)
Soya alternative to milk
Soya alternative to yoghurt
Soya mince/chunks
Tofu
Almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, cashews, peanuts (always unsalted)
There's lots more advice on the six super foods that help lower cholesterol.
Foods Fortified with Plant Stanols or Plant Sterols
Sterols and stanols are naturally found in plants in very small amounts. Foods fortified with plant sterols and stanols have been shown to lower cholesterol levels by reducing the amount of cholesterol our body can recycle. Foods fortified with plant stanols or sterols are now readily available in the chiller cabinet of most stores. Take a look at our section on Foods Fortified with Plant Stanols or Sterols for more information.
Cholesterol Food Myths – Eggs, Liver, Kidneys and Prawns
You may have read or heard about avoiding foods which are naturally rich in cholesterol. These include eggs, liver and kidneys, and seafood such as prawns. Whilst we do get some of our cholesterol from these animal foods such – most of us don’t need to limit these because they are also low in saturated fat. If in doubt talk to your health care professional or call or email our cholesterol helpline.
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