High cholesterol levels can increase your risk of heart-related diseases and can be lowered by regular exercise and a healthy diet. As part of your healthy diet, good fats, including polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats, can play an important role in reducing your cholesterol levels. Including these types of fat into your diet instead of trans fat and saturated fat will improve your cholesterol profile.
Polyunsaturated Fats
Polyunsaturated fats are found in fish, walnuts, flax seeds and corn oil and can help improve your cholesterol levels. Omega-3 fatty acids, a type of polyunsaturated fat, are especially important because they can reduce inflammation as well. Omega-3s cannot be made by your body and you must get them from food sources, reports the University of Maryland Medical Center. Eating fish two times a week can be a good way to get enough omega-3s into your diet.
Monounsaturated Fats
Monounsaturated fats are also heart-healthy fats and should be included in your healthy diet. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, foods high in monounsaturated fat include olive oil, avocados, almonds and pecans. These types of fats work to lower your total cholesterol and LDL, or "bad" cholesterol levels. Monounsaturated fats, together with polyunsaturated fats, although healthy, are still high in calories and should be limited to make sure you do not exceed your calorie limits.
Unhealthy Fats
Some types of fat do the opposite of what polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats do. The American Heart Association reports that the main dietary source of high cholesterol is saturated fat. Foods such as beef, pork and whole-milk products are high in saturated fat and should be limited to avoid increasing your cholesterol levels. Another type of unhealthy fat that negatively affects your cholesterol is trans fat. Trans fats not only increase your "bad" LDL cholesterol but also lower your "good" cholesterol, or HDL. Trans fats are found in many processed, store-bought cookies, pastries and fried foods.
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