Bad cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. Your risk for heart disease increases when total serum cholesterol increases above 200 milligrams per deciliter; when LDL cholesterol, the "bad" cholesterol, increases above 100 mg/dL; and when HDL cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol, decreases below 60 mg/dL for women and men, notes the American Heart Association. You can lower bad cholesterol levels through diet, physical activity and medication. Consult your doctor about lowering your bad cholesterol.
Healthy Fats
You can lower your bad cholesterol by avoiding foods with unhealthy fats and consuming foods with healthy fats. Saturated fat found in red meat, poultry, pork and dairy and trans fats found in processed and fast foods may increase your bad cholesterol levels. Monounsaturated fats found in avocados, olive oil and almonds and omega-3 fats found in fish, walnuts and flaxseeds are healthy fats and can lower your bad cholesterol levels, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. A vegetarian diet is associated with lower blood levels of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol compared with diets that include meat, according to research by scientists at Catholic University at Sao Paulo in Brazil and published in the "Brazilian Archives of Cardiology" in 2007.
Soluble Fiber
Soluble fiber is an indigestible part of plant-based foods and may reduce your cholesterol levels. Research by scientists at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans and published in "Current Atherosclerosis Reports" in 2008 notes that strong epidemiological evidence demonstrates that increasing dietary fiber may reduce your LDL cholesterol levels and risk of coronary heart disease. The research highlights various dietary sources of soluble fiber that include legumes, vegetables, psyllium, pectin, guar gum and beta-glucan as reducing LDL cholesterol.
Dark Chocolate
Consuming dark chocolate may reduce your total and LDL cholesterol levels. Dark chocolate contains plant sterols, substances that block the absorption of cholesterol from food in the small intestine and may lower your LDL cholesterol without reducing your HDL cholesterol, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Also, plant sterols do not interfere with cholesterol lowering medications. Research by scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and published in the "Journal of Nutrition" in 2008 discovered that regular consumption of chocolate bars containing plant sterols reduces total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol in women and men who have high cholesterol.
Medications
Cholesterol lowering medications may be necessary if you are unable to reduce your total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels through diet, exercise and weight loss. HMG CoA reductase inhibitors, such as statins, block an enzyme called 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase, which normally produces cholesterol in your liver. Doctors most often prescribe statins as an adjunct to a low-cholesterol, low-fat diet. Statins, such as Lipitor, have dangerous side effects including muscle breakdown and kidney failure, according to Lipitor Prescribing Information. Bile sequestrants, such as nicotinic acid, cause your liver to convert cholesterol into bile acids that your body excretes. Fibric acid derivatives, such as fenofibrate, may reduce your blood fat levels, which can also lower cholesterol when these drugs are used in combination with bile acid sequestrants.
References
- American Heart Association; What Your Cholesterol Levels Mean February 25, 2011
- Harvard School of Public Health; Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, in with the Good; 2010
- "Brazilian Archives of Cardiology"; Vegetarian Diet and Cholesterol and Triglycerides Levels; Simone Grigoletto De Biase, et al.; Jan 2007
- MayoClinic.com; Dietary Fiber: Essential for a Healthy Diet; 2009
- "Current Atherosclerosis Reports"; Effects of Soluble Dietary Fiber on Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Coronary Heart Disease Risk; Lydia Bazzano.; Dec 2008
- Cleveland Clinic; Plant Sterols and Stanols; July 15, 2009
