LDL is one of the cholesterol carriers in your body. It transports the cholesterol to blood vessels and creates dangerous plaque. This "bad" LDL can be slashed by
decreasing saturated fats and trans fats in your diet. Regular exercise and maintaining a normal weight are also critical. In addition, some remarkable foods can shrink LDL further.
Step 1
Eat soluble fiber. That may not sound exciting, but soluble fiber is in a lot of foods, such as pears, bananas, oatmeal, eggplant and barley. It's also in some less glamorous but important fiber foods that are easy to add when cooking or baking. These include psyllium, oat bran, prunes, lentils, garbanzos, black-eyed peas and kidney beans. Soluble fiber blocks cholesterol absorption in the intestine and lowers LDL. Fruits such as strawberries, oranges, grapes and apples have pectin in them, and this form of soluble fiber creates a jelly-like substance in the gut, also trapping cholesterol.
Step 2
Eat organic blueberries. These berries contain pterostilbene, which decreases your cholesterol almost as well as some medications used for hypercholesterolemia.
Step 3
Eat foods with plant sterols or stanols added as an ingredient. These are natural plant substances and are available in many products in the grocery store, from yogurt to orange juice to chocolate.
Step 4
Eat two servings of fish a week. Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids, which lower cholesterol and triglycerides. Omega-3 fatty acids also protect the heart from abnormal heart rhythms. To reap the most benefit of omega-3, eat sardines, tuna, salmon, albacore tuna, herring or mackerel. If you don't like fish, you can get the same boost from canola oil or ground flax seed.
Step 5
Eat nuts. About a handful, or 1 1/2 oz., of almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts or peanuts can lower LDL by 5 percent, according to Harvard Health Publications. These nuts also have omega-3 and antioxidants and help keep blood vessels flexible.
Step 6
Drink pomegranate juice. According to Lipids Online, a few studies have shown that those at high risk for coronary heart disease who drank the juice had less-than-expected advance in atherosclerosis, or plaque buildup. Pomegranate juice contains antioxidants and polyphenols.
