Your Low-Cholesterol Diet

8 Food Tips to Lower Cholesterol

A low-cholesteroldiet is one of the surest ways to improve heart health. In fact, studies show you can slash your bad cholesterol by as much as 10% to 20% by giving your diet a makeover. The secret? Follow a diet rich in healthy fats like vegetable oils and fish. And avoid foods high in saturated fats and trans fats. How do you know which foods keep your cholesterol low? Here are nine tips to help you get started.

Look over the TLC diet and make a shopping list of your favorite cholesterol-lowering foods.

1. Stock your pantry and your refrigerator with the right foods for a low-cholesterol diet. Buy your favorite canned or dry beans, fresh fruits, whole grains, vegetables, and vegetable juice.
2. For a low-cholesterol diet, toss the butter, trans fat margarines, and polyunsaturated oil. Replace them with canola oil, olive oil, or plant sterol spreads.
3. Look for products specifically created for low-cholesterol diets, like Minute Maid HeartWise orange juice and Benecol, Promise, Smart Balance, and Take Control margarines. These foods have been fortified with plant stanols and sterols that help to block the absorption of cholesterol.
4. Start your day with oatmeal. Experts agree this is one of the top cholesterol-lowering superfoods.
5. Try a cholesterol-free egg substitute instead of whole eggs.
6. For a tasty low-cholesterol dish, switch out the cream sauce on your fettuccine for lightly stir-fried vegetables.
7. Instead of using butter to keep your pan moist while cooking, use white wine vinegar. It doesn’t change the flavor of foods and doesn’t add fat — a key to low-cholesterol cooking!
8. Don’t lean on butter, sour cream, and other fatty additives for flavoring. Instead, reach for the spices — either while cooking or at the table. Liven up your dishes with oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, coriander, or cumin.

Cholesterol Lowering Medications

7 Treatment Tips to Help Lower Your Cholesterol

Cholesterol-lowering medications can help many people if taken as prescribed. First, however, answer two questions. Have you tried to lower cholesterol through diet, exercise, and weight loss? Are you at high risk of cardiovascular problems? Doctors usually suggest trying diet and exercise before cholesterol-lowering medications. But if you’re at high risk, your doctor may recommend starting cholesterol lowering medications right away. Here are seven tips to help you get the most out of your cholesterol lowering medications.

• Ask your doctor to explain how each different cholesterol-lowering medication works, and which one may be best for you.
• Tell your doctor about any other medications you’re taking. This includes vitamins, herbs, and supplements, which can sometimes interact with prescription medications to cause dangerous side effects or make the medications less effective.
• Stick with your prescription. Many people may skip doses of statins and other cholesterol-lowering medications because they don’t "feel any better" while taking them. But high cholesterol is a silent disease, and you may not realize the benefit you’re getting. Don’t cut back on your doses, skip them, or stop taking your drug altogether to save money. If you’re having trouble with affordability, talk to your doctor about how to cut costs safely.
• Keep your supplies of cholesterol-lowering medications filled. Don’t wait until you are out to go to the pharmacy, and be sure to get enough of the prescription ahead of time if you expect to be traveling.
• Niacin (nicotinic acid) has been approved by the FDA as a cholesterol-lowering medication, but it should be taken in prescription form from your doctor. Over-the-counter supplements may not contain the amount found on the label.
• Side effects are rare with most cholesterol-lowering medications, but you should be aware of the specific side effects that go with the drug you’re taking. Keep your doctor informed of any side effects. For example, statins have a rare side effect of muscle problems, so if you have muscle soreness, pain, or weakness, tell your doctor.
• For any symptom that you think might be a side effect of a cholesterol-lowering medication, call your doctor right away. Don’t wait for your next appointment.

High Cholesterol

High Cholesterol: Stocking a Heart-Healthy Kitchen

Heart-healthy foods are essential to a heart-healthy diet. If you want to eat a heart-healthy diet but are not sure what foods you should buy, check out this heart-healthy kitchen essentials guide. From fruits and vegetables to whole grain goodness, learn what foods to keep on hand.

Fresh Fruits & Vegetables

Fill your fridge with seasonal fruits such as berries, oranges, apples, pears, and grapes, and vegetables such as bell peppers, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, tomatoes, dark leafy greens, celery, eggplant, zucchini, and squash.

Dairy and Dairy Alternatives

• Skim or 1% milk
• Soymilk (plain, unsweetened, vanilla, or chocolate)
• Low – or nonfat buttermilk
• Nonfat half-and-half or nonfat creamers
• Nonfat or reduced-fat cheese (bricks, slices, or shredded)
• Soy-based cheeses (bricks, slices, or shredded)
• Nonfat or light cream cheese
• Nonfat or 1% fat cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
• Nonfat or 1% fat yogurt (includes fruited, vanilla, or plain)
• Soy-based yogurts
• Nonfat sour cream
• Egg substitutes, egg whites

Meat, Poultry, Fish & Meat Substitutes

• Skinless, boneless chicken or turkey breasts and tenders
• Skinless, white breast meat ground chicken or turkey
• Pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat
• Lean ground beef such as ground round or ground sirloin (Note: When buying beef, look for words like "round" or "loin" and choose lean cuts — the less marbling, the lower the fat content.)
• Assorted fish: salmon, mackerel, tilapia, trout, herring, tuna
• Tofu silken, soft, firm, or extra firm
• Tempeh
• Seitan

Frozen Foods

• Frozen vegetables and vegetable blends without added sauces, gravies, and added sodium
• Frozen fruits without added sugar (for example, frozen blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries)
• Frozen soybeans (edamame)
• Frozen vegetarian burgers, sausage patties, or links (For example, Boca Burgers, Yves, Morningstar Farms or Gardenburger)
• Reduced-fat and sodium vegetarian chili, burritos, and entrees like Amy’s Organic and Health Valley.

Fats, Cooking Oils

• Assorted cooking oils (olive, canola, walnut, grapeseed, peanut, and sesame)
• Non-fat cooking sprays (for example, Spectrum Naturals, Pam)
• Baking fat replacements (for example, pureed prunes, applesauce, or Smucker’s Baking Healthy)
• Non-hydrogenated shortening (for example, Spectrum Naturals)
• Trans-free liquid or tub margarine (for example, Promise Activ, Benecol, Fleischmann’s Light, Smart Balance)
• Reduced-fat or nonfat salad dressings

Herbs, Seasonings & Spices

Here are some delicious seasonings to take the place of salt.

Allspice	Basil	Bay Leaves	Black pepper
Caraway seeds	Cayenne	Chili powder	Chinese five-spice
Cinnamon	Cloves	Coriander	Cumin
Curry powder	Dill	Garlic powder	Ginger, ground
Italian seasoning	Marjoram	Mint	Nutmeg
Onion powder	Oregano	Paprika	Parsley
Red pepper flakes	Rosemary
Assorted sodium-free Mrs. Dash seasonings

Sweeteners

• Splenda, Equal, Nutra Sweet, Sugar Twin, and Brown Sugar Twin (sugar substitutes)
• Sugar free or "light" maple syrups
• Honey
• Brown rice syrup for a sweetening alternative to use when baking

Pantry Essentials

Snacks

• Assorted raw nuts and seeds (almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds)
• Dried fruits
• Whole-grain breads, tortillas, pitas
• Whole-grain, trans-fat free crackers (such as Health Valley whole wheat crackers, Kashi TLC crackers, Reduced Fat Triscuits, Fat Free Rye Crisp, Wasa)
• Baked, trans-fat-free tortilla chips
• Brown rice cakes, popcorn cakes
• Whole-grain pretzels (such as Snyder’s oat bran or honey wheat)
• Plain popcorn or light microwave popcorn

Condiments

• Assorted vinegars: rice, red wine, balsamic, apple cider, raspberry. These make delicious salad dressings.
• Reduced-sodium ketchup
• Assorted mustards: whole grain, honey, Dijon, yellow
• Reduced-sodium soy sauce
• Reduced-fat or nonfat mayonnaise
• Barbecue sauce

Beans, Grains, Sauces

• Assorted canned beans such as lentils, kidney, garbanzo, pinto, and black beans (Note: Choose low or reduced sodium if you have high blood pressure.)
• Dried beans (lentils, split peas, garbanzo beans, black beans)
• Reduced-sodium soups with beans (for example, Health Valley)
• Vegetarian chili beans (for example, Westbrae Naturals or Health Valley)
• Vegetarian or nonfat refried beans
• Rolled, steel cut, or Irish oats
• Oat bran
• Whole or ground flaxseeds
• Whole-grain cold cereals (Note: Choose cereals that contain 5 or more grams of dietary fiber and fewer than 8 grams of sugar per serving.)
• Barley
• Brown rice, wild rice, and brown basmati rice
• Grains such as wheat berries, couscous, polenta, millet, bulgur or quinoa (pronounced keen-wa)
• Whole-wheat, spelt, or kamut pastas (Note: These whole-grain pastas come in bowtie, fettuccini, lasagna, spaghetti, fusili, spiral, elbow macaroni, and ravioli varieties.)
• Wheat germ
• Whole-wheat flour and whole-wheat pastry flour
• Soy flour
• Cornmeal
• Reduced-sodium canned diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, and tomato sauce
• Tomato paste
• Low-fat or fat-free pasta sauce
• Reduced-sodium chicken, beef, and vegetable broths
• 98% fat-free cream of mushroom or chicken soups (for example, Campbell’s Healthy Request)

Cholesterol Ratio

Finding the Ideal Cholesterol Ratio

Cholesterol is a fatty substance that naturally occurs in human blood. It is formed in the liver or digested from the foods you eat. Cholesterol performs important functions in your body. It aids in tissue and hormone formation. It protects your nerves. It aids in digestion. In fact, cholesterol helps form the structure of every cell in your body.

You’ve probably heard your doctor talk about good and bad cholesterol. It’s true we need cholesterol to maintain good health. But too much LDL — "bad" — cholesterol and not enough HDL — "good" — cholesterol may lead to heart disease and stroke. To help avoid those problems, you need to maintain the proper ratio between good and total cholesterol.

How do you know what that ratio is? Once you know your cholesterol numbers, you can work with your doctor to find the ideal cholesterol ratio. Then, by making simple lifestyle changes such as eating a heart-healthy diet, exercising regularly, and taking cholesterol medications such as statins, you can work your way toward that ratio. By lowering your level of LDL cholesterol and increasing the level of HDL cholesterol, you can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.

How do good and bad cholesterol affect the body?

High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is the good cholesterol. The benefit of HDL lies in the fact that it carries bad cholesterol back to the liver. In doing so, it cleanses cholesterol from the bloodstream.

Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol, is the bad cholesterol. The higher the level of LDL cholesterol, the greater your risk of a heart attack. When the level of LDL cholesterol goes up, excess cholesterol can build up and stick to the walls of your arteries. This causes damage. The buildup is called plaque, and the formation of plaque can cause arteries to harden and narrow. This hardening is called atherosclerosis. It’s also known as hardening of the arteries. If a plaque becomes unstable, a blood clot can form, suddenly blocking an artery. This causes a heart attack or stroke.

What is total cholesterol?

When your cholesterol is checked, you get a number for the HDL level and a number for the LDL level. Your total cholesterol is a number that comes from adding the HDL and LDL numbers.

Either a high HDL number or a high LDL number can make your total cholesterol number high. If it’s high because of a high HDL number, your health is not necessarily in danger. However, if it’s high because your LDL cholesterol level is high, it’s important to talk with your doctor about your health risks. Your doctor can explain how lifestyle changes can help you reduce the LDL cholesterol in your body.

A good level of HDL cholesterol is at least 60mg/dL. HDL levels between 40 and 60 are considered OK. An optimal level of LDL cholesterol is under 100 mg/dL.

What is cholesterol ratio?

To find your cholesterol ratio, you divide your total cholesterol number by your HDL, or good, cholesterol number. For example, if your total cholesterol number is 200 and your good cholesterol is 50, your total cholesterol ratio is 4:1.

Is there an ideal cholesterol ratio?

According to the American Heart Association, you should keep your cholesterol ratio at or below 5:1. The ideal cholesterol ratio is about 3.5:1.

Total cholesterol ratio may be used as a monitoring tool by some healthcare specialists. However, the American Heart Association suggests that doctors use total cholesterol numbers with patients rather than cholesterol ratio. That’s because the total cholesterol number is considered a better tool for guiding the doctor in planning the best patient care.

What are triglycerides?

Triglycerides are another form of fat in the blood. Just as with HDL and LDL cholesterol, your body makes triglycerides and also gets them from foods you eat. Foods that are high in trans fats and saturated fats can raise triglyceride levels. Also, when you eat more calories than you burn, your triglyceride levels may soar.

Are high cholesterol levels dangerous?

A high cholesterol level can be a risk factor for heart attack and stroke. These devastating events happen when a cholesterol plaque ruptures. This causes blood to suddenly clot and block an artery in the heart or brain.

Slower, more controlled blockages in the heart’s arteries can lead to a form of chest pain called angina. Angina is a common symptom of coronary artery disease. Symptoms usually occur with exertion and go away with rest.

Are there ways to manage high cholesterol levels?

Yes, there are ways to manage high cholesterol levels, including the following:

1. Increase HDL ("good") cholesterol levels and decrease LDL ("bad") cholesterol by getting regular aerobic exercise. Exercise also helps relax blood vessels and lowers blood pressure.
2. Lower LDL ("bad") cholesterol by eating foods low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and trans fat. You can replace these bad fat foods with foods high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. This includes eating fish with omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, eating soluble fibers — such as guar gum, oats, pectin, and psyllium — will help reduce LDL cholesterol. So will cholesterol-lowering foods, such as margarines, enriched with plant sterols and stanols.
3. Medications such as statins help lower LDL cholesterol levels. They also help lower triglycerides and slightly increase HDL cholesterol levels. Statins reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in many people.

If your cholesterol is high, it will take time and effort to improve your cholesterol levels and cholesterol ratio. You should count on at least months of lifestyle changes and possibly taking daily medication. The results, though

Cholesterol

Have you been diagnosed with high cholesterol? Is lowering your cholesterol a goal? The first step is to find out: what is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance made in the liver and found in certain foods, such as food from animals, like dairy products (whole milk), eggs and meat.

The body needs some cholesterol in order to function properly. Its cell walls, or membranes, need cholesterol in order to produce hormones, vitamin D and the bile acids that help to digest fat. But, the body needs only a small amount of cholesterol to meet its needs. When too much is present health problems such as coronary heart disease may develop.

What Is Coronary Heart Disease?

When too much cholesterol is present, plaque (a thick, hard deposit) may form in the body’s arteries narrowing the space for blood to flow to the heart. Over time, this buildup causes atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) which can lead to heart disease.

When not enough oxygen-carrying blood reaches the heart chest pain — called angina — can result. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by total blockage of a coronary artery, the result is a heart attack. This is usually due to a sudden closure from a blood clot forming on top of a previous narrowing.

Types of Cholesterol

Cholesterol travels through the blood attached to a protein — this cholesterol-protein package is called a lipoprotein. Lipoproteins are classified as high density, low density, or very low density, depending on how much protein there is in relation to fat.

• Low density lipoproteins (LDL): LDL, also called "bad" cholesterol, can cause buildup of plaque on the walls of arteries. The more LDL there is in the blood, the greater the risk of heart disease.
• High density lipoproteins (HDL): HDL, also called "good" cholesterol, helps the body get rid of bad cholesterol in the blood. The higher the level of HDL cholesterol, the better. If your levels of HDL are low, your risk of heart disease increases.
• Very low density lipoproteins (VLDL): VLDL is similar to LDL cholesterol in that it contains mostly fat and not much protein.
• Triglycerides: Triglycerides are another type of fat that is carried in the blood by very low density lipoproteins. Excess calories, alcohol or sugar in the body are converted into triglycerides and stored in fat cells throughout the body.

What Factors Affect Cholesterol Levels?

A variety of factors can affect your cholesterol levels. They include:

• Diet. Saturated fat and cholesterol in the food you eat increase cholesterol levels. Try to reduce the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet.
• Weight. In addition to being a risk factor for heart disease, being overweight can also increase your cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower your LDL and total cholesterol levels, as well as increase HDL cholesterol.
• Exercise. Regular exercise can lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol. You should try to be physically active for 30 minutes on most days.
• Age and Gender. As we get older, cholesterol levels rise. Before menopause, women tend to have lower total cholesterol levels than men of the same age. After menopause, however, women’s LDL levels tend to rise.
• Diabetes. Poorly controlled diabetes increases cholesterol levels. With impovements in control, cholesterol levels can fall.
• Heredity. Your genes partly determine how much cholesterol your body makes. High blood cholesterol can run in families.
• Other causes. Certain medications and medical conditions can cause high cholesterol.

How Much Cholesterol Is Too Much?

Everyone over the age of 20 should get their cholesterol levels measured at least once every 5 years.

When being tested, your doctor may recommend a non-fasting cholesterol test or a fasting cholesterol test. A non-fasting cholesterol test will show your total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. A fasting cholesterol test, called a lipid profile or a lipoprotein analysis, will measure your LDL, HDL, and total cholesterol. It will also measure triglycerides.

Your doctor may start with a non-fasting cholesterol test and then recommend a lipid profile, based on your results.

Doctors recommend your cholesterol stay below 200. Here is the breakdown:

Total Cholesterol	Category
Less than 200	Desirable
200 – 239	Borderline High
240 and above	High

Your LDL, HDL and triglyceride levels are important as well.

How Can I Lower My Cholesterol and Reduce My Risk of Heart Disease?

A few simple changes can help lower your cholesterol:

• Eat low cholesterol foods. The American Heart Association recommends that you limit your average daily cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams. If you have heart disease, limit your daily intake to less than 200 milligrams. People can significantly lower their dietary cholesterol intake by keeping their dietary intake of saturated fats low and by avoiding foods that are high in saturated fat and that contain substantial amounts of dietary cholesterol.
• Quit smoking. Smoking lowers HDL ("good") cholesterol levels. This trend can be reversed if you quit smoking.
• Exercise. Exercise increases HDL cholesterol in some people. Even moderate-intensity activities, if done daily, can help control weight, diabetes, and high blood pressure — all risk factors for heart disease.
• Take medication as prescribed by your doctor. Sometimes making changes to your diet and increasing exercise is not enough to bring your cholesterol down. You may also need to take a cholesterol lowering drug.

How Is High Cholesterol Treated?

The main goal in lowering cholesterol is to lower your LDL and raise your HDL. There are two key ways to lower cholesterol: eat a heart-healthy diet and take cholesterol-lowering medications.

Doctors determine your "goals" for lowering LDL based on the number of risk factors you have for heart disease.

• If you have 0-1 risk factor for heart disease, you are at low-to-moderate risk. Lifestyle changes are recommended to keep the cholesterol in check.
• If you have 2 or more risk factors, you are at moderate risk or next-highest risk, depending on what heart disease risk factors you have. Sometimes your doctor will try lifestyle changes, but most of these people require cholesterol-lowering drugs.
• If you have known heart disease, diabetes or multiple risk factors, you are at high, or very high, risk. These people require a combination of cholesterol-lowering drugs and lifestyle changes to control their cholesterol levels.

What Drugs Are Used to Treat High Cholesterol?

Cholesterol-lowering drugs include:

• Statins
• Niacin
• Bile-acid resins
• Fibric acid derivatives

Cholesterol-lowering medicine is most effective when combined with a low-cholesterol diet.

WebMD Editors’ Picks: News and Trends in Cholesterol

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