Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that circulates in your blood. It is made by your liver but also enters your body through some of the foods we eat, especially those high in saturated fat, such as red meat, butter, and processed foods.
Cholesterol is transported through your blood via lipoproteins, particles that have cholesterol on the inside and protein on the outside.
There are two main types of cholesterol:
- Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) carries cholesterol away from your liver and into your blood. It is called “bad” cholesterol because it can clog and narrow blood vessels, leading to heart disease.
- High-density lipoprotein (or HDL) carries “good” cholesterol. It moves from your blood back to your liver, where it is broken down.
Your cholesterol level is not static. They vary depending on your diet, physical activity level, age, and many other factors. While you can’t control every factor, there are many things you can do to help lower your cholesterol and improve your heart health. Making healthy lifestyle changes is key to lowering your cholesterol.
Here are seven of the best ways to maintain healthy cholesterol levels:
1. Increase your soluble fiber
Soluble fiber is a type of fiber that forms a gel when digested. This gel helps absorb things like cholesterol and fat in the intestines before they can move into the bloodstream. Foods high in soluble fiber include oats, barley, fruits like apples, oranges, and berries, and vegetables like Brussels sprouts. Some studies have found that adults with mildly high cholesterol who ate two apples a day for eight weeks were able to lower their cholesterol levels. Many foods high in soluble fiber also contain polyphenols, plant-based antioxidants that may also help lower cholesterol.
2. Reduce Saturated and Trans Fats
Saturated fats and trans fats (found in things like red meat, bacon, butter, palm oil, whole-fat dairy products, fried foods, and processed foods like packaged cakes and baked goods) can raise cholesterol levels by making the liver less effective at breaking down cholesterol from the blood. Replace saturated fats with heart-healthy polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats, including olive oil, canola oil, avocados, and most nuts. Prioritizing unsaturated fats is a key goal of the DASH diet to lower cholesterol and high blood pressure. The DASH diet recommends low-fat dairy products, lentils, whole grains, and healthy vegetable oils.
3. Add omega-3 fatty acids
The Mediterranean diet is recommended for people with high cholesterol because it is high in omega-3 fats. Some of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids (which are thought to reduce the production of cholesterol and triglycerides in the liver) are fatty fish, oily fish (such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines), as well as nuts and ground flaxseed.
4. Avoid or limit foods that raise cholesterol
These include:
- Fatty meats, such as steaks, bacon, and sausage, etc.
- Store-bought cakes and cookies, which are often made with saturated fats.
- Fried foods, frozen pizza, and microwave popcorn are high in trans fats.
- Processed foods such as crackers, hot dogs, and cold cuts.
- Butter (as a substitute for margarine).
- Foods high in sugar and refined carbohydrates (candy, soft drinks, white pasta, white rice, etc.), which raise the body’s LDL and lower HDL. When it comes to added sugars, women should consume no more than 24 grams per day and men 36 grams.
- Also, you don’t have to avoid egg yolks or shellfish, just eat them in moderation. Although they are high in cholesterol, they don’t seem to affect blood cholesterol and they contain many important nutrients.
5. Exercise
Regular exercise improves liver function and the way your liver uses fat. If you can reduce the amount of fat in your liver through diet and exercise, you can improve the way your liver handles lipid production. For example, aerobic exercise (like running, sprinting, or cycling) increases HDL cholesterol by an average of 4.6% while reducing triglycerides by 3.7% and LDL cholesterol by 5%, and low-to-moderate resistance training is also effective at lowering cholesterol.
6. Lose Weight
Because of the way it affects the liver and its cholesterol production, carrying extra weight can increase your triglycerides and lower your HDL levels. That doesn’t mean that people who are normal weight or even underweight don’t have cholesterol problems. But in general, cholesterol tends to increase as you gain weight. In fact, research shows that 60% to 70% of obese people have unhealthy cholesterol profiles. However, even moderate weight loss of just 5% to 10% of your body weight can have a cholesterol-lowering effect.
7. Quit Smoking
Smoking is another bad habit you should quit for better long-term health. Lowering cholesterol is just one of the many benefits. When you quit smoking, your HDL cholesterol levels increase almost immediately. Smoking also raises LDL cholesterol, so quitting the habit will also lower your bad cholesterol.
The benefits happen quickly:
- Within 20 minutes of quitting, your blood pressure and heart rate recover from the spike caused by smoking
- Within three months of quitting, your circulation and lung function begin to improve
- Within a year of quitting, your risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker
