Tips To Having A Lower Cholesterol Diet From Dr. Sam Robbins

By Dr. Sam Robbins

A bowl of oatmeal, a handful of walnuts or a baked potato topped with a heart healthy margarine may be enough to lower your cholesterol to a healthy level and keep you off medications.

Oatmeal is one food item that has soluble fiber which will reduce your low density lipoprotein (LDL), the bad cholesterol. You can find soluble fiber in kidney beans, apples, pears, psyllium, barley and prunes.

To decrease your total and LDL cholesterol eat ten grams or more soluble fiber a day. Eating 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal provides 6 grams of fiber. If you add fruit, such as bananas, you'll add about 4 more grams of fiber. You can also eat cold cereal made with oatmeal or oat bran.

To reduce your blood cholesterol you should eat walnuts according to research. You can keep your blood vessels healthy and elastic with you eat foods such as walnuts that are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Almonds and other nuts produce the same effect, however, only eat a handful because nuts are high in calories.

Because of its high levels of omega 3 fatty acids eating fatty fish has lowered cholesterol according to researchers. Reducing blood pressure and the risk of blood clots is another way Omega 3 fatty acids helps the heart. Fish oil or omega 3 fatty acids reduces the risk of sudden death in people who already have heart problems.

To get heart healthy benefits it is recommended by the Food and Drug Administration to eat 2 tablespoons of olive oil a day. You can get olive oil into your diet by adding it to a marinade, by using it to saute vegetables or mix it with vinegar as a salad dressing. When you are basting meat use olive oil rather than butter. Olive oil contains a potent mix of antioxidants that can lower your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol but leave your "good" (HDL) cholesterol untouched.

Food items such as margarines, orange juice and yogurt drinks can reduce LDL cholesterol by more than 10 percent because they are fortified with plant sterols. By drinking two 8 ounce glasses of sterol fortified orange juice a day gives you the needed 2 grams of plant sterols.

Before you make other changes to your diet, think about cutting back on the types and amounts of fats you eat, which can raise your cholesterol. That way, you'll improve your cholesterol levels and health overall. - 32002

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