Treatment & Care
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Doctors emphasize diet, exercise, and weight loss to reduce cholesterol. Medications are another important option to lower heart disease risk.
Get Heart-Healthy: Here’s a Diet to Lower Cholesterol
Feeding your heart well is a powerful way to reduce bad cholesterol
Eat more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. The dietary fiber in these foods helps lower “bad” LDL cholesterol -- one of the main contributors to heart attack and stroke. Put these on your plate with every meal to reach these daily amounts: At least 5 cups of fruits and vegetables and three 1-ounce servings of whole grains a day.
Eat more legumes (beans), seeds, and nuts. Your weekly target: 4 servings of either nuts, seeds, or legumes such as black beans, garbanzos or lentils.
Put healthier fats to work for you.
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Cook with oils high in healthy, unsaturated fats, such as canola, olive, and peanut oils. These oils are less likely than butter or lard to clog your arteries.
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Use plant stanols or sterols found in fortified margarines, salad dressings, and yogurt. (Check the labels.) These plant compounds help lower “bad” LDL cholesterol.
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Eat fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, including albacore tuna, salmon, or sardines. This fat is a powerful defender against heart attack and stroke. Omega-3s seem to lower triglycerides, fight plaque in your arteries, lower blood pressure, and reduce your risk of abnormal heart rhythms.
Eat lean, unprocessed protein. Make fish and chicken your mainstays. They help lower your chance of a heart attack and stroke, while red meats (beef, pork, and lamb) increase your risk. The American Heart Association suggests you eat at least two 3.5-ounce servings of fish a week. Tofu and soy protein are also lean sources of protein – and not just for vegetarians anymore.
If you’re craving some type of processed meat -- bacon, deli meats, hot dogs, sausage, chicken nuggets, or jerky – limit those to no more than 2 servings a week.
Feed your body regularly. When you skip a meal, you’re more likely to overeat later. For some people, eating 5 to 6 mini-meals works best to limit calories, help control blood sugars, and regulate metabolism. For others, 3 meals a day works better, since extra meals can trigger overeating. See which approach works for you.
Experiment with new flavors. Try using dried herbs and spices instead of salt, which can drive up your blood pressure. For chicken, try using rosemary, garlic, or sage. For fish, try dill or tarragon. Try vinegars – from balsamic to rice vinegar, to add zest to ho-hum food.
Exercise. Activity is good medicine. Exercise strengthens your heart, improves blood flow, raises "good" HDL cholesterol, and helps control blood sugar and body weight.
Add years to your life by quitting. No matter how many years you've been smoking, know this: Research shows that quitting works as well -- if not better -- than just about any heart drug available.Quitting now will lower your risk of death from heart disease by 33%.
Celebrate each pound you lose. Small steps help with obesity and heart health. Just dropping 5 or 10 pounds -- even if you're still technically overweight afterward -- will reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke by lowering your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels
Food
Nuts Help Lower Bad Cholesterol
Nuts get a bad rap because of fat and calories. But they're a great weapon against LDL, the bad cholesterol.
Nuts Help Lower Bad Cholesterol
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Improve total cholesterol with omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, tuna, sardines, and more.
LDL Cholesterol and Oatmeal
A bowl of oatmeal a day can really bring down "bad" LDL cholesterol.
Soy Protein: A Good Cholesterol Food
Just say "yes" to soy, to ratchet down bad cholesterol numbers.
Soy Protein = A Good Cholesterol Food
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Breads - Whole wheat, rye, pumpernickel, or white
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Soft tortillas - Corn or whole wheat
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Hot and cold cereals - Except granola or muesli
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Rice - White, brown, wild, basmati, or jasmine
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Grains - Bulgur, couscous, quinoa, barley, hominy, or millet
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Fruits - Any fresh, canned, dried, or frozen without added sugar
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Vegetables - Any fresh, frozen, or (low-salt) canned without cream or cheese sauce
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Fresh or frozen juices without added sugar
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Fat-free or 1% milk
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Cheese with 3 grams of fat or less per serving
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Low-fat or nonfat yogurt
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Lean cuts of meat - Eye of round beef, top round, sirloin, or pork tenderloin
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Lean or extra lean ground beef
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Chicken or turkey - White or light meat, skin removed
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Fish - Most white meat fish is very low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol.
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Tuna - Light meat canned in water
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Peanut butter, reduced fat
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Eggs, egg whites, egg substitutes
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Low-fat cookies or angel food cake
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Low-fat frozen yogurt, sorbet, sherbet
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Popcorn without butter or oil, pretzels, baked tortilla chips
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Margarine - Soft, diet, tub, or liquid
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Vegetable oil - Canola, olive, corn, peanut, or sunflower
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Nonstick cooking spray
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Sparkling water, tea, lemonade
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Taking the Right Step to Reduce Cholesterol
Adoption of a healthier lifestyle, including aerobic exercise and a low-fat diet, should reduce the prevalence of obesity, high cholesterol, and, ultimately, the risk of coronary heart disease.
First, see your doctor. A simple blood test checks for high cholesterol. You may be asked to fast overnight before the test. Just knowing your total cholesterol level isn't enough. A complete lipid profile measures your LDL, total cholesterol, HDL (the good cholesterol), and triglycerides. The guidelines say healthy adults should have this analysis every 5 years.
Next, set dietary goals based on the guidelines from the National Cholesterol Education Program.
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Strive for daily intake of less than 7% of your calories from saturated fat and less than 200 mg of cholesterol from the food you eat.
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You may eat up to 30% of your calories from total fat, but most should be from unsaturated fat, which doesn't raise cholesterol levels.
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Add more soluble fiber (found in cereal grains, beans, peas, and many fruits and vegetables) and foods that contain plant stanols and sterols (included in certain margarines and salad dressings) to boost your LDL-lowering power. The best way to know what's in the foods you eat is to read the nutrition label.
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Lower cholesterol levels start at the grocery store. Read food labels, and buy foods low in saturated fat and low in cholesterol. To help you know what to look for when grocery shopping, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has a partial shopping list for you.
Manage your cholesterol. You can take an important first step toward a healthier heart by enrolling in the American Heart Association's Cholesterol Low Down Program. High cholesterol is a leading risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke. Sign up by phone ([800] AHA-USA1) or online at American Heart Association's Cholesterol Low Down Program to receive life-management tools such as a newsletter, health risk assessment, and healthy-living cookbooks and fitness tips.
Calculate your 10-year risk of having a heart attack. The risk assessment tool presented at this link is from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's National Cholesterol Education Program. It uses scientific research information to predict your chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years. For adults older than 20 years who do not have heart disease or diabetes, click the link to assess your risk score. Those with diabetes and others with a 10-year risk greater than 20% are considered to have the same risk for future heart disease events as people with known coronary heart disease. You'll need to know your total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol level, and systolic blood pressure (the first number).
The National Cholesterol Education Program Web site will tell you what your LDL cholesterol goal should be. For people with known coronary heart disease and similar risk, the LDL cholesterol goal is less than 100 mg/dL.
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