While your body needs some cholesterol to function, high levels of low-density lipoproteins, or LDL, can lead to health conditions like heart disease, coronary artery disease, heart attack and stroke, according to the National Institutes of Health's MedlinePlus. Restricted-cholesterol diets are prescribed when your cholesterol -- particularly your LDL -- is high. Changing your diet is an effective and safe way to lower your cholesterol to healthy levels. In many cases, dietary changes are sufficient to bring cholesterol under control, rendering cholesterol-reducing medications like statins unnecessary, but you should always check with your doctor.
Limited Saturated and Trans Fats
Restricted-cholesterol diets call for a change in the types of fats that you eat. Certain fats -- like saturated fat from animal products and hydrogenated fats found in margarine, shortening and baked goods -- cause a rise in blood cholesterol levels. Diets that limit these types of fats recommend that you eat lean proteins like fish, egg whites and skinless poultry while limiting fatty animal proteins like egg yolks, beef and pork. To avoid trans fatty acids, the American Heart Association recommends limiting premade and processed foods that list partially hydrogenated oils as an ingredient, avoiding fast food, and minimizing the amount of commercially prepared baked goods and fried foods that you eat.
Increased Fiber and Whole Grain Intake
Fiber -- particularly soluble fiber -- helps lower low-density lipoproteins. According to Health Central's Cholesterol Network, oatmeal is an excellent source of this LDL-lowering fiber. Other good sources of fiber include kidney beans, whole grains, brown rice and many fruits and vegetables. Increasing your intake of these foods is an excellent way to get healthy fiber while avoiding cholesterol-laden foods.
Steaming, Grilling and Broiling
How you cook foods may be as important for cholesterol management as what those foods are. Some cooking processes -- like frying, sauteing and braising -- yield fattier, higher cholesterol foods than other cooking methods. When you cook meat, broiling and grilling allow the fat to drip away from the food as it cooks. The result is leaner meat. Fish can be broiled, grilled or steamed. All are cooking processes that don't add any additional fat into the fish.
Antioxidant-Rich Foods
According to Health Central Cholesterol Network, foods that are high in antioxidants are an important part of reduced-cholesterol diets. Antioxidant-rich foods like berries, fruits and vegetables give you a fighting chance against cholesterol by lowering the potential for cholesterol build-up in the arteries. Antioxidants are found in rich supply in dark purple berries like blueberries, cranberries and acaí, and are present in most fruits and vegetables.
