Foods That Lower Cholesterol Levels

Foods that lower cholesterol are desired by anybody. Consuming foods that lower cholesterol can keep your heart healthy. Too much cholesterol can cause serious problems-even heart attacks. Most of the cholesterol in your body is made by the liver and is called serum cholesterol. Dietary cholesterol is the rest of the cholesterol in your body, and comes from the foods you eat such as whole milk, dairy products, meat, fish, poultry, animal fats and egg yolks.

The body needs a certain amount of cholesterol to build cell membranes and for other uses. However, the liver makes enough cholesterol to meet these needs. This means that when you eat foods high in animal fat, you are also eating foods high in cholesterol, which tends to raise total blood cholesterol.

How to Lower Cholesterol

• Eat fiber rich breakfast such as oat meal, whole grain porridge, fruits etc. Oat bran and rice bran are most effective. Switch to whole grains.

• Eat legume (bean, pea etc) at least three times a week. Soy protein is effective. Even soymilk, tofu and textured soy protein are good.

• Eat five serving of fruits and vegetables daily.

• Eat garlic. Cooked or raw garlic contain compounds to lower your liver’s production of cholesterol. Others include raw onion, salmon, olive oil, almond etc.

• Eat plenty of food which contain natural antioxidants, vitamin C and E. e.g. sweet red and green pepper, melon, sunflower seeds, walnuts, strawberries, papaya, almonds, peanuts, orange, grapefruit juice, wheat germ, soybeans, broccoli and Brussels sprout.

Cholesterol Lowering Foods

Dry bean, fresh fruits, whole grains, vegetables and vegetable juice.

Diet Foods to Lower Cholesterol

Toss the butter, Trans fat margarines and polysaturated oils. Replace them with canola oil, olive oil or plant sterol spreads. Products specifically created for low-cholesterol diets like Minute maid Heart wise orange juice and Benecol, promise, Smart Balance and Take control margarines. These foods have been fortified with plant sterols and stanols that help to block the absorption of cholesterol.

Sample Diet and Recipes to Lower Cholesterol

• Start your day with oatmeal. Try cholesterol free egg substitute instead of whole eggs.
• Use white wine vinegar instead of using butter to keep your pan moist while cooking.

List of Foods That Help To Lower Cholesterol (Top 10):

Apples: Apple pectin is a soluble fiber that helps draw cholesterol out of the system. The flavonoids (Quercetin) in apples act as a powerful anti-oxidant that seems to short-circuit the process that leads “bad” LDL cholesterol to accumulate in the bloodstream.
Beans: Beans and vegetables are an excellent source of soluble fiber and high in vegetable protein. By properly combing beans with brown rice, seeds, corn, wheat you can create a complete protein. Properly combined beans become an excellent substitute for red meat protein that is high in saturated fat.
Brown Rice: The oil in whole brown rice, not its fiber, lowers cholesterol. Brown rice can be combined with beans to form an inexpensive complete protein low in saturated fat. In addition, this whole grain also supplies good doses of heart-healthy fiber, magnesium and B vitamins.
Cinnamon: A study published in the journal Diabetes Care found that half a teaspoon of cinnamon a day significantly reduces blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. It also reduces triglyceride, LDL, the bad cholesterol and the total cholesterol level.
Garlic: Garlic contains the chemical allicin, which has been shown to kill bacteria and fungi, and alleviate certain digestive disorders. It also lowers the blood clotting properties of blood. But the most notable attention garlic has received over recent years is its possible usefulness in lowering cholesterol levels.
Grapes: Flavonoids in grapes protect LDL cholesterol from free radical damage and reduce platelet clumping. The LDL lowering effect of grapes comes from a compound that grapes produce normally to resist mold. The darker the grape, the better.
Oats: Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which reduces your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad cholesterol. Five to 10 grams of soluble fiber day decreases LDL cholesterol by about 5 percent. Eating 1.5 cups of cooked oatmeal provides 4.5 grams of fiber – enough to lower your cholesterol.
Salmon: The major health components in salmon include: Omega 3 fatty-acid and protein. These components have a favorable cardiovascular effect. The American Heart Association recommends that people include at least two servings of fish/week, particularly fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines, anchovies and herring), in their diets.
Soy: The top health promoting components in soybeans are isoflavones and soluble fiber. Isoflavones act like human hormone that can lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol. All soy products (soybeans, soy nuts, tofu, tempeh, soy milk, etc.) are complete proteins.
Walnuts: Walnuts can significantly reduce blood cholesterol because they are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Walnuts also help keep blood vessels healthy and elastic. Almonds appear to have a similar effect, resulting in a marked improvement within just four weeks. A cholesterol-lowering diet with a little less than 1/3 of a cup of walnuts/day may reduce LDL cholesterol by 12 percent.

Changing your diet with foods that lower cholesterol is often the most effective way to maintain your cholesterol at a desirable level. By knowing what list of foods that help to lower cholesterol are better for your health. With foods that lower cholesterol, you can control your cholesterol level.