LOWER CHOLESTEROL NATURALLY

It’s easy to eat your way to an alarmingly high cholesterol level. The reverse is true, too changing what foods you eat can lower your cholesterol and improve the armada of fats floating through your bloodstream. Doing this requires a two-pronged strategy: Add foods that lower LDL, the harmful cholesterol-carrying particle that contributes to artery-clogging atherosclerosis. At the same time, cut back on foods that boost LDL. Without that step, you are engaging in a holding action instead of a steady and tasty victory.

High cholesterol level in the body can lead to various health issues. Making you prone to several serious health diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, it is extremely important to keep it under control. Those suffering from cholesterol issues should know that your diet can be greatly responsible for high cholesterol level in the body. Hence, before indulging in any type of food, it is important to know your food and how it impacts you. Here we have mentioned few foods that help in keeping your cholesterol level under control.

You’ve probably seen certain foods touted as helpful for lowering cholesterol. But how exactly are diet and cholesterol connected. Let’s back up for a minute. In case you need a quick refresher on cholesterol, we all have two natural types in our bodies: HDL, the happy or good kind, and LDL, the lousy kind. In general, having a high HDL is healthy, while having a high LDL is linked to an increased risk of heart disease. That’s because LDL tends to clog and harden arteries, whereas HDL carries LDL away from the arteries to your liver to be eliminated. HDL also seems to protect against damage to blood vessels, a major precursor to hardened arteries.

1. Saturated fats- Typical sources of saturated fat include animal products, such as red meat, whole-fat dairy products, and eggs, and also a few vegetable oils, such as palm oil, coconut oil, and cocoa butter. Saturated fat can increase your levels of bad LDL cholesterol. But it has some benefits, too it lowers triglycerides and nudges up levels of good HDL cholesterol. The role of saturated fat in heart disease is currently under debate. For now, it’s best to limit your intake of saturated-fat-rich foods.

2. Trans fats- The right amount of trans fats is zero! That’s why the FDA banned trans fats from the U.S. food supply. Trans fats are a byproduct of the chemical reaction that turns liquid vegetable oil into solid margarine or shortening and that prevents liquid vegetable oils from turning rancid. These fats have no nutritional value and we know for certain they are bad for heart health. Trans fats increase LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels while reducing levels of HDL cholesterol.

3. Weight and exercise- Being overweight and not exercising affect fats circulating in the bloodstream. Excess weight boosts harmful LDL, while inactivity depresses protective HDL. Reducing weight if needed and exercising more reverse these trends.

Foods that Lower Cholesterol Naturally

1. Roasted almonds with the skins

Just a fistful of almonds packs a whopping 9 grams of monounsaturated fat, helping slash bad cholesterol, while boosting the good kind. Opting for almonds instead of a doughnut, chips, or pretzels for two snacks a day could cut your “bad” cholesterol by nearly 10 percent. Natural vitamin E in the almond’s meat plus flavonoids in this nut’s papery skin also help halt the development of artery-clogging plaque.

2. Oats

An easy first step to improving your cholesterol is having a bowl of oatmeal or cold oat-based cereal like Cheerios for breakfast. It gives you 1 to 2 grams of soluble fiber. Add a banana or some strawberries for another half-gram. Current nutrition guidelines recommend getting 20 to 35 grams of fiber a day, with at least 5 to 10 grams coming from soluble fiber. The average American gets about half that amount.

3. Beans

Beans are especially rich in soluble fiber. They also take awhile for the body to digest, meaning you feel full for longer after a meal. That’s one reason beans are a useful food for folks trying to reduce weight. With so many choices from navy and kidney beans to lentils, garbanzos, black-eyed peas, and beyond and so many ways to prepare them, beans are a very versatile food.

4. Foods fortified with sterols and stanols

Sterols and stanols extracted from plants gum up the body’s ability to absorb cholesterol from food. Companies are adding them to foods ranging from margarine and granola bars to orange juice and chocolate. They’re also available as supplements. Getting 2 grams of plant sterols or stanols a day can lower LDL cholesterol by about 10 percent.

5. Fatty fish

Eating fish two or three times a week can lower LDL in two ways: by replacing meat, which has LDL-boosting saturated fats, and by delivering LDL-lowering omega-3 fats. Omega-3s reduce triglycerides in the bloodstream and also protect the heart by helping prevent the onset of abnormal heart rhythms.