14 Foods that Lower Cholesterol

by laurel on August 4, 2007

The best way to improve your cholesterol levels and reduce your risk of heart disease is to change your diet and lifestyle. Eat a whole foods, plant-based diet and incorporate exercise and stress-relieving activities into your daily routine. I made a list of the best cholesterol lowering foods in 2007. It’s time for an update! Here’s my new 2011 list of the Top 14 Foods that Lower Cholesterol with the latest research and recommendations from nutrition experts:

1. Whole Grains and Oats – a five-year Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study showed that people whose diets contain the most whole grains “had the thinnest carotid artery walls and showed the slowest progression in artery wall thickness.” Try these recipes:

2. Blueberries – pterostilbene, a compound in blueberries, may help lower cholesterol as effectively as commercial drugs with fewer side effects. Antioxidants in blueberries, such as anthocyanins, have been found to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and improve cholesterol health in several notable studies. Try these recipes:

3. Nuts (all kinds) – eating a small serving of nuts every day can reduce your total cholesterol, reduce your LDL cholesterol, and improve your ratio of total cholesterol to HDL (good) cholesterol. Try these recipes:

Snack of raw almonds4. Chlorella – chlorella is a potent, eco-friendly source of healthy omega-3 fats, making it cholesterol lowering food. Studies show that it can significantly improve cholesterol levels. An easy way eat chlorella is in a smoothie. Try mixing chlorella granules with coconut water, blueberries, and strawberries for a healthy afternoon snack or dessert.

Sun Chlorella granules and tablets5. Chocolate – eating dark chocolate has been found to provide dozens of health benefits, including improving cholesterol levels. For the best health benefit, consume raw chocolate without added dairy products or artificial sweeteners. Try these recipes:

6. Avocados, 7. Olives, and 8. Olive Oil – The high level of monounsaturated fats in avocados, olives, and olive oil protect against heart disease and diabetes and can increase your good cholesterol and decrease your bad cholesterol. Check out the Mediterranean Diet for more on these foods and their health benefits. Try these recipes:

9. Goji Berries – goji berries keep your arteries from narrowing and prevent cholesterol from oxidizing and sticking to the inside or causing blood clots. Research from China found that goji berries can increase the production of an antioxidant called superoxide dismutase (SOD) which prevents cholesterol oxidation. Try these recipes:

10. Flaxseed and Flaxseed Oil – flaxseed oil is a great vegetarian choice for a healthy fats supplement if you don’t want to take fish oil. Many experts agree that flaxseeds are a good choice to help maintain heart health and avoid heart disease and dangerous cholesterol levels. Try adding a spoonful of ground up flaxseed to your favorite smoothies or baked goods. You can substitute 3 tbsp. ground flax seeds for 1 tbsp. butter/margarine.

11. 100% Cranberry-Grape Juice – antioxidants in red and purple juices slow down LDL cholesterol oxidation and may raise levels of HDL cholesterol. Read my article “Did We Forget About Cranberries?” and try the recipe below with extra grape juice:

Unsweetened herbal tea at Josie's12. Soy Foods (such as tempeh, tofu, or edamame) – try eating high-quality soy foods instead of meat. Soy foods may not improve your cholesterol levels on their own, but they will give you a healthy dose of protein and will cut out artery-clogging dietary cholesterol found in meat. Try these recipes:

13. Pomegranate Juice – a National Academy of Sciences study showed that pomegranate juice reduces cholesterol plaque buildup and increases nitric oxide production (nitric oxide helps reduce arterial plaque), making it a perfect cholesterol lowering food. It’s also been shown to improve fertility.

14. Leafy Greens – leafy green vegetables such as spinach and kale are loaded with fiber and lutein, a carotenoid which has been found to reduce LDL cholesterol particles and help prevent heart disease with its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant powers. Try these recipes:

You might be a person who is predisposed to high cholesterol, or maybe your diet could use a shape-up. Here are a few key points on cholesterol that I try to focus on:

  • Cholesterol is not the sole reason people have heart disease, but it’s definitely a contributing factor. Experts agree that dietary cholesterol raises blood cholesterol and that high blood cholesterol levels increase your risk for heart disease.
  • Everyone should have their cholesterol checked-it doesn’t matter if you are young/old, female/male, or thin/overweight.
  • While there are many factors at play (such as family history, stress level, physical activity level, and age), your diet has a tremendous influence on the amount of cholesterol in your blood and more importantly, on your risk for life-threatening diseases.

See also:

What is Good Cholesterol and How Do I Improve It?

What is Bad Cholesterol and How Do I Improve It?

3 Diets that Fight Cholesterol

Dairy Substitutes

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{ 131 comments… read them below or add one }

Nawal May 31, 2011 at 5:25 pm

Salam Alaykom, I have a question for you guys, I know Unfiltered coffee is not good for ppl who have high cholesterol, But how to know if the coffee is filtered or not ( i buy coffee and never made it at home ). sorry if my question is boring.

Gayle June 4, 2011 at 2:38 pm

Nawal, filtered coffee is made by putting coffee grounds inside a paper filter and pouring hot water through the filter. You can buy the cone that holds the filter and the paper filters at most grocery stores. You place the con & filter over your coffee cup and pour the hot water through the grounds so it pours into your cup. The filter removes much of the oil in the coffee grounds which makes it healthier to drink that coffee that is boiled or pressed.

Lucy July 17, 2011 at 4:09 pm

Great article, thank you, regarding tip no. 13: Drinking Pomegranate, Dandelion and milk thistle helped me alot. I found them all together in a ready to drink herbal teabags called Colestel herbal tea from Galilee tisanes. http://www.galileetisanes.com
Good luck, Lucy.

Bessie July 22, 2011 at 8:51 pm

Darren and Marika… thank you so much for your replies. The latest news on my little girl is that we’ve managed to get her cholestorol level down to 250 and we’re struggling to keep it there. Thank God I have a very active daughter and I’m hoping that that is helping kind of. She follows her diet with no complains because she actually never had a chance to try any of the “bad” foods, so really she doesn’t feel like she’s missing out on anything. She’s as lean as a little string bean, in a healthy way that is, because I’m constantly looking at her weight to make sure she isn’t losing any due to her diet. All this worrying however is only in my and my husbands heart and mind… we never let her suspect that anything is wrong. She doesn’t have a clue. We’ve trained her into eating healthy and hopefully she’ll continue this way when she gets older. Thanks again a million and know that I’ll take your advice!!!

Jeff August 13, 2011 at 10:35 am

Great article. I’d really appreciate knowing what foods to avoid if that is possible.

Thanks to your advice, I’m going to go out and get a kilo of pistachios. Yum.

Anil September 14, 2011 at 5:29 am

my wife is suffering with cholesterol defect. her HDL is 24 mg and LDL IS 144 mg. She has detected with RCA- Dominant and occluded just before PD. Distal PD and PL fill through collaterals from left system. There is a small thrombus seen just before the occlusion.
Kindly advise for the diet she can take.

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How To Lower Cholesterol September 30, 2011 at 9:00 pm

Wow! a whole lot of delicious yet healthy food. The way to a healthy is just to enjoy this health rich food. Great read and very informative.

caitlin October 5, 2011 at 1:00 pm

whole grains were listed first and leafy greens were listed last….I think it should have been the other way around.

Laurel October 5, 2011 at 1:04 pm

Hi Caitlin,
The foods are not listed in order of priority. Leafy greens always top my list!
:) Laurel

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HGH Human Growth Hormone November 10, 2011 at 12:57 am

i have heard that nuts, chocolates and cashews are warm for the body and it causes high blood pressure. what a person should do if he has high blood pressure problem. i will glad if anybody can answer this. thanks

akram November 16, 2011 at 11:40 am

thank you for your information i will fallow up 14 food item thank you

Cheap Liposuction November 28, 2011 at 11:51 pm

Hi,

Nice soy food recipes, i tired them very nice and enjoyed by my family too….with so the low cholesterol benefits…

Coach Factory Outlet December 5, 2011 at 10:34 pm
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beef manitoba December 9, 2011 at 9:40 am

Some people add chlorella when they are eating farm raised fish to reduce toxicity.

Dan Brook January 4, 2012 at 7:35 pm

Great article!

For a different but related perspective,
please see my “Controlling Cholesterol & Beating Heart Disease”
at
http://www.vegparadise.com/otherbirds1303.html

Foods That Heal January 11, 2012 at 7:31 pm

Nice list of foods to reduce cholesterol. A couple other items that have been shown to help lower cholesterol are red grapefruit and aloe vera juice. Following the healthy eating plan from the DASH diet has also been shown to decrease cholesterol. This is a great blog, lots of good information.

moidutp84 January 18, 2012 at 2:28 am

be carefull cholesterol

mohammad othman January 18, 2012 at 7:48 am

I want to know the updates of foods that lowering the cholesterol in body

kim murphy February 13, 2012 at 7:06 pm

cholesterol

Mumbai Escorts February 16, 2012 at 1:00 am

hey that a really nice update on this… thanks for sharing the information..

Round Rock dentists March 6, 2012 at 9:22 pm

Nice list of foods – I really like the smoothie recipe. Thanks for sharing these!!

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Austin painters March 14, 2012 at 3:16 pm

This is exactly what I was looking for, lowering cholesterol is something everyone needs to worry about, glad you’re one of those people.

Tejano Music March 14, 2012 at 3:18 pm

I learned something new to try – chlorella! Thanks for the great information.

Lesley March 15, 2012 at 6:22 pm

Hi Laurel!

I’m actually doing some research on foods that lower cholesterol for my own weight loss blog. I’ve been learning a lot and gotten my cholesterol down to 228 which makes me feel great!

I love steel cut oats with blueberries for breakfast. It also helps with my cravings for carbs because I’m trying to cut back on wheat.

Chlorella, thanks. Never heard of it so that one. I’ll also be sure to try the Quinoa stuffed bell peppers. I know quinoa is high in protein and I have problems getting enough.

I also love the way you include recipes with each food type!

Lesley

Rajan March 24, 2012 at 6:32 am

Iam suffering with blood pressure and cholestrol

Kindly advise for the diet I can take.

anuradhajayaraj May 8, 2012 at 3:11 am

greattttttttttttttttttt article

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