High cholesterol levels increase your risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. If you have high cholesterol, your doctor may recommend several strategies to treat it. Following a low cholesterol diet is one way to lower your cholesterol levels.
Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes Diet
The Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes, or TLC, Program involves lowering cholesterol via drug therapy, weight management, physical activity and diet. Under the guidance of a doctor or registered dietitian, people following the TLC program limit the amount of saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and calories they eat. Saturated fat should make up less than 7 percent of the day's calories, and between 25 and 35 percent of total daily calories should come from fat. The TLC guidelines advise people with high cholesterol to limit sodium intake to less than 2,400 milligrams daily and cut calories overall. Eating fiber and plant foods also helps lower cholesterol levels, so the TLC diet recommends increasing fruit, vegetable and nut intake and adding up to 10 grams of fiber daily. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, following the recommendations of the TLC diet can reduce low density lipoprotein, or LDL, levels by 20 to 30 percent, similar to the reduction obtained with cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Dean Ornish Program
The cardiologist Dean Ornish, M.D. developed this cholesterol-lowering diet program to reduce patient's risk of heart disease. The Ornish diet program encourages people with heart disease to forgo animal foods, refined carbohydrates and fatty foods in favor of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Following the Dean Ornish Program you consume no more than 10 percent of calories as fat, limit cholesterol intake to no more than 5 milligrams daily and avoid all meat and dairy foods except for nonfat milk, yogurt and egg whites. The diet also eliminates caffeine and allows sugar, alcohol and salt in moderation. Though some research indicates that the diet reduces high-density lipoprotein levels, the helpful form of cholesterol that protects heart health, other studies have shown that people who maintained the diet for five years cut their overall cholesterol intake significantly, according to The World's Healthiest Foods.
Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean Diet also offers cholesterol-reducing benefits, according to the Mayo Clinic. On the Mediterranean diet, you fill your plate with fresh vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices, along with fish and seafood, poultry, eggs and dairy products. This diet---light on processed foods and heavy on plant and minimally processed meals---encourages drinking red wine and the use of olive and canola oil, but eschews butter and margarine. People with heart disease who switched to a Mediterranean diet reduced their harmful cholesterol levels, increased helpful lipid levels by 68 percent and cut heart attack risk by 70 percent, according to Consumer Reports.
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