Zeroing in on Food That Helps Lower Cholesterol

Your latest doctors visit revealed a disturbing secret; your cholesterol levels have escalated to a point where your doctor believes your health could be at risk. He also told you that if things don't improve in a few months medication would be the next step.

After leaving his office you made a challenge to yourself to get those out of control cholesterol levels down before your next visit. You recalled reading an article a while back on every day foods that can help lower cholesterol, and decide that this just might be an easy way to put both you and your doctors minds at ease.

Does the story above remind you of anyone you know? I bet it does and guess what, there are a number of very healthy foods that lower cholesterol, and as an added bonus they might melt a few pound off along the way. But first let's cover some general guidelines to help us gain a laser like focus about what we are trying to do.

First fat should make up no more than 30 percent of the total calories consumed. Second, and perhaps the most important, saturated fat should make up no more than 10 percent of total calories consumed each day. Thirdly, polyunsaturated fats containing omega 3 and omega 6 oils should be substituted for other choices due to their ability to decrease levels of triglycerides and LDL (bad cholesterol). Oh yea, we can feel the cholesterol numbers dropping already and we haven't even started our plan yet!

Next, let's move on to specific foods that help lower cholesterol.

The only foods that add cholesterol to your diet are foods from animals. You should read that line again, it is just that important! It not that we can't consume some foods from animals, we just have to make sure the servings are in 3 or 4 ounce quantities. There is one big exception in the animal kingdom, those animal foods that contain high levels of omega 3 and omega 6. While our serving size should still be small, omega 3 and omega 6 rich foods should gain priority over other animal product choices. The animal foods highest in these health promoting amino acids are fish; specifically salmon, tuna, cod, lake trout, and mackerel.

Now let's move on to a couple of specific foods.

Whole grain, oats, and oat bran: These are super foods in the world of cholesterol, particularly oat bran. These types of foods not only contain zero cholesterol but actually trap cholesterol in the intestines and send it out in the form of solid waste. Talk about flushing cholesterol down the drain.

Go nuts for nuts: Nuts, and particularly walnuts, almonds, and pecans are high on our list of foods that help lower cholesterol. A recent study found that by adding a moderate amount of nuts to a cholesterol lowering diet, or substituting nuts for other high fat foods, such as marbled or ground meat, an individual could reduce normal to moderately high levels of total LDL (bad cholesterol) by as much as 12 percent.

There we have it, a simple list of foods that help lower cholesterol that you can build upon. Additionally, many natural health minded individual are finding that by combining the foods above with natural cholesterol reducing supplements that were able to accelerate their results noticeably. Now let's get started!