Once, if you were diagnosed with high cholesterol, your options were very limited--eat a limited list of unpalatable foods, take some foul-tasting medications and hope for the best. Today, there is an almost unlimited amount of information around to help inform you about how to lower your cholesterol.
Step 1
Call or stop by your doctor's office and peruse their selection of pamphlets for lowering cholesterol. Most major drug companies that make cholesterol-lowering drugs also produce free information for their patients. With your doctor's permission, he may be able to send you home with some free samples of cholesterol-lowering medications as well as educational material about how cholesterol forms in your body and what you can do about it.
Step 2
Look for nutritional information in the produce section of your supermarket. Most large supermarket chains offer small nutritional pamphlets mounted in small containers near their produce. Not only will they provide you with information about the amount of cholesterol contained in foods, but they'll often feature tasty menus that you can cook with their products.
Step 3
Learn how to read the packaging labels on products. Since the early 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration has required all food manufacturers to label their products with their contents. Besides the number of servings per container, calories and grams of sodium, most packages will label their products with the grams of cholesterol per serving of their products.
Step 4
Attend classes at your local community college for low-fat, low-cholesterol cooking. Not only will the instructor be able to provide you with a list of healthy alternatives to full-fat dairy products, but she'll show you how to prepare delicious meals using heart-healthy alternatives.
Tips and Warnings
- Work with your physician or registered dietitian for ways to reduce your cholesterol. Learn how to read food packaging labels.
- Avoid fad diets. Start slowly and gradually integrate the knowledge you've learned.
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