Fiber & High Cholesterol

Approximately 1 in 6 Americans has high cholesterol, which is an independent risk factor for heart disease. If you're one of those people, your chances of developing heart disease are twice as high as that of friends and neighbors who keep their blood cholesterol under control, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A diet high in fiber can help reduce control your blood cholesterol level and improve your heart health.

Basics

Fiber refers to the portions of grains, vegetables and fruits that your body can't digest or absorb. Because dietary fiber is found in plant foods and cholesterol is manufactured only by animals, high-fiber foods are cholesterol-free unless animal products are added during the manufacturing process. Soluble fiber, a specific type of dietary fiber that dissolves in water, is the form of complex carbohydrate that influences blood cholesterol levels. MayoClinic.com identifies foods high in soluble fiber as one of the top five foods to lower your cholesterol numbers.

Sources

Oats, oatmeal and oat bran are excellent sources of insoluble fiber. You can also obtain soluble fiber from peas, beans, apples, pears, corn, cabbage, citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruit, barley and carrots. To maximize your fiber intake, select grains, fruits and vegetables that are as close as possible to their natural form. Bran, the outer layer of grain kernels, contains up to 90 percent of the total fiber in a grain.

Effects

When you eat foods high in soluble fiber, the fiber dissolves in your digestive tract and affects blood cholesterol levels in two ways. First, the fiber can slow down the rate at which dietary cholesterol is absorbed from your intestines into your bloodstream. Second, soluble fiber combines with bile acids in your intestines to form a gel-like material that is excreted in your stools. Your liver uses part of its stored cholesterol to produce bile acids and pulls low-density lipoprotein, or "bad," cholesterol from your blood to replace the lost stores. This process reduces both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels in your blood.

Benefits

A high-fiber diet that helps you manage your blood cholesterol levels effectively can make a big difference in your life. If you don't already have heart disease, lowering your cholesterol and blood pressure levels can reduce your risk of developing it in the future, advises the CDC. If you've already been diagnosed with heart disease, controlling your cholesterol and blood pressure can lower the chances that you'll need heart bypass surgery or angioplasty to unclog blocked coronary arteries, have a non-lethal heart attack or die from your heart disease.