What Foods Lower Cholesterol?

"Lower cholesterol foods"

The Facts

Many of the foods you eat such as meat, duck, goose, salami, bacon, cheese, contains two nutrients that raise the bad cholesterol or LDL in your body. Saturated fats raise your LDL to higher levels than anything else that you eat in your daily diet. Foods that contain a lot of saturated fat also tend to be high in cholesterol which is the second main nutrient in raising your LDL levels. Cholesterol a waxy fat like substance produced by your liver and other cells of the body cannot be dissolved by your blood. They have to be transported back and forth to different cells of your body by lipoproteins. The two different kinds are low density lipoproteins or bad cholesterol and High density lipoproteins which are your good cholesterol. The LDL your bad cholesterol is the main carrier in your bloodstream. If too much is in your bloodstream it can cause plaque which create walls that jam up the blood going to and from the heart and other parts of your body. This can cause a blood clot, which could cause you to have a heart attack or a stroke. The good news is that having a high amount of your HDL levels which is the good cholesterol in your body will protect you from heart attacks and strokes.

Are you Nuts?

There are many different delicious foods out there that will really help you in your fight against high cholesterol. These foods contain nutrients that will lower your bad cholesterol levels, and thus lead to lower cholesterol levels overall. Nuts are just one of the foods that you can start to incorporate into your daily diet to really start lowering your cholesterol. The Food and Drug administration or FDA says that having a handful of almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pistachio nuts, some pine nuts, hazelnuts and pecans may reduce your risk of heart disease. This is only referring to nuts that are unsalted and not coated in sugar. Nuts contain polyunsaturated fatty acids that really help in lowering cholesterol.

Fish, Fish and more Fish

It has been recommended that a person eat at least two servings of fish per week. By eating fish you will reap the benefits of the omega-3 nutrients found in fish. The fact that fish contains high levels of omega-3's also helps reduce blood pressure and risk of blood clots. Omega-3's also help slow the effects of alcohol consumption and repair tissue due to lack of oxygen in your body. Not only that they also improve your blood flow, and slow the growth and spread of cancerous tumors. Taking fish oil tablets will also give you the benefits of eating fish and help to lower your cholesterol; as well as your risk of heart disease. The best kinds of fish to eat to get the most of the many benefits are salmon, herring and tuna. However most seafood also contain a good amount of the omega-3's you need. While eating lots of fish does have a risk of getting mercury and other contaminants into your body. The benefits of having a healthy heart usually outweigh the risk.

Fiber

When fighting against high cholesterol another weapon you in your arsenal in terms of food are foods that contain a large amount of soluble fiber. Bananas, prunes, apples, barley, blackberries, canned punkins, hot oatmeal and most cereals contain a good amount of soluble fiber. Bread also contains fiber, but if you are going to eat a lot of bread in your diet opt for whole grain; because it contains about three times as much soluble fiber as white bread. If you eat foods that contain heavy amounts of fiber you will probably do less unnecessary snacking throughout the day because foods that contain fiber also tend to be very filling. If you are going to eat cereal opt for raisin bran types. These cereals contain the most amount of fiber. Fiber is also a great nutrients to get a lot of if you are trying to lose weight and weight also figures into lowering your cholesterol.

In conclusion if you apply these simple changes in your daily diet you should be able to see results in terms of your cholesterol levels within about six weeks. Remember that it is important for anyone over the age of twenty to have regular checks of their cholesterol about every five years.

heart.org/HEARTORG HEARTORG

webmd.com/cholesterol-management/default.htm WebMD

Joshua Brown is a nutrition expert. For more great information on healthycholesterolcenter.com/lower-cholesterol-foods.html lower cholesterol foods, visit healthycholesterolcenter.com healthycholesterolcenter.com.