Cholesterol occurs naturally and is necessary for your body to work properly. However, too much in the blood sticks to artery walls, leading to narrowing and blockage. High blood cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease, but diet and lifestyle changes can lower your blood cholesterol levels. Snacks for a cholesterol diet should be low in saturated fat and high in fiber.
Nuts
Nuts can reduce blood cholesterol levels, according to MayoClinic.com. A study published in 2000 in "The Journal of Nutrition" investigated the effects of walnut consumption on blood cholesterol levels in Japanese men and women. Men and women were randomly assigned to a standard Japanese diet and standard Japanese diet with 43 to 57 g of walnuts for a 4-week period. Total and LDL cholesterol levels decreased when the men and women were following the diet with the added walnuts. The authors of the study suggest replacing a portion of your typical fat intake with walnuts to lower your blood cholesterol levels.
Snacking on 1.5 oz. of nuts, including walnuts, a day can reduce your risk of heart disease, says MayoClinic.com. Other healthy nuts to snack on to help lower your cholesterol include almonds, pecan, peanuts, pistachio nuts, hazelnuts and pine nuts.
Fruits and Vegetables
Snacking on fruits and vegetables can also lower your blood cholesterol levels, according to MedlinePlus. Fruits and vegetables are high in fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate and potassium. Fruits make an easy snack choice because they come pre-packaged and pre-portioned. Pears and oranges are high in soluble fiber. Soluble fiber in food lowers blood cholesterol levels and make healthy snack choices to lower your blood cholesterol levels. Other fruit snack choices for cholesterol diets include apples, grapes, bananas, peaches, melons, berries and nectarines.
Vegetable snack choices for cholesterol diets include baby carrots, grape tomatoes, celery sticks, cucumber slices, broccoli and cauliflower florets and peppers. If you need a dip for your vegetables, choose low-fat or fat free salad dressings to limit your fat intake. You can also try hummus or peanut butter as a dip.
Whole-Grain Snack Foods
Whole grains also make healthy snack choices for people following a cholesterol diet. Many whole-grains also contain high amounts of soluble fiber. A healthy snack choice for cholesterol diets includes unsweetened whole oat cereal. Oats contain high amounts of soluble fiber. Eat whole oat cereal by itself or with skim milk. Whole-grain crackers with nut butter also makes a healthy snack choice for people with high cholesterol.
Other Snack Choices
Not all snack choices lower cholesterol levels, but they can still be included in your diet. Other healthy snack choices for cholesterol diets include nonfat yogurt, low-fat cheese, animal crackers and graham crackers. Low-fat sweets can also be included in your diet in small amounts, according to the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute. Sweet snacks choices for cholesterol diets include fat free pudding, fig cookies, gingersnap cookies, fat free cake and brownies, low-fat frozen yogurt and ice cream, gelatin and sorbet.
