Cholesterol is a waxy substance that combines with proteins in order to move throughout the body's cells and blood vessels. Your liver produces enough cholesterol to sustain human life, but you also obtain it from dietary sources. If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, your doctor might recommend making changes to your diet in order to lower your levels.
Fat Intake
A high-fat diet is often associated with cholesterol. However, although some types of fat do negatively impact cholesterol levels, others actually increase the amount of good cholesterol in the bloodstream. To improve your cholesterol, stay away from foods that are high in saturated fat and eliminate any that contain trans fats, which increase bad cholesterol levels, or low-density lipoprotein, and also decrease good cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein. Replace butter with oils that are rich in unsaturated fats, such as olive oil and peanut oil, and avoid fast food and processed foods, which tend to contain saturated and trans fats.
Foods to Increase
Some foods are able to combat high cholesterol levels by increasing good cholesterol in the bloodstream. Include these healthy, nutrient-rich foods in your daily diet. According to the Mayo Clinic, the top five foods that benefit cholesterol levels are oatmeal, due to its fiber content, fish, due to its essential fatty acid content, nuts, which contain polyunsaturated fats, olive oil, due to its antioxidant properties, and foods that are fortified with plant substances called sterols or stanols, which block cholesterol absorption in the bloodstream and thereby lower LDL levels.
Fiber
In addition to lowering your intake of saturated fat, research demonstrates that increasing your fiber intake also helps prevent and treat high cholesterol. According to Medline Plus, a study by researchers at the University of Toronto found that people with high cholesterol levels were likely to experience significant decreases if they decreased their intake of animal products and increased consumption of plant-based foods that are high in fiber, which reduces cholesterol absorption in the bloodstream.
Considerations
In addition to changing your diet, you might need to make a few other lifestyle changes to lower your cholesterol. The American Heart Association recommends that people who want to decrease cholesterol levels quit smoking if applicable and engage in regular physical activity. If lifestyle changes do not impact your cholesterol levels, your doctor might recommend cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins, selective cholesterol absorption inhibitors, resins and fibrates. If your cholesterol levels are dangerously high, your doctor might recommend medication without first experimenting with diet changes.
References
- Teens Health; What Is Cholesterol?; Mary L. Gavin; December 2009
- Harvard School of Public Health; Fats and Cholesterol: Out With the Bad, in With the Good
- MayoClinic.com; Cholesterol: Top Five Foods to Lower Your Numbers; May 2010
- Medline Plus; Certain Foods Said to Help Lower Bad Cholesterol; August 2011
- American Heart Association; Prevention and Treatment of High Cholesterol; August 2011
- American Heart Association; Drug Therapy for Cholesterol; June 2011
