Everyone can learn about healthy lifestyle choices that can lower cholesterol naturally, including diet, exercise, and stress management.
Here are the best ways to lower cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease:
1. Focus on Fat
First of all, diet is one of the most important risk factors for high cholesterol. You can lower your cholesterol by limiting the foods you eat.
To try lowering your cholesterol naturally, start by replacing unhealthy (saturated) fats with healthy (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) fats. Healthy fats are found in foods such as:
- Avocados.
- Nuts, such as walnuts and almonds.
- Oily fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as tuna, salmon, and mackerel.
- Olive oil.
- Seeds, including flaxseeds and chia seeds.
- Limit saturated fat. It’s also important to limit your saturated fat intake. This means reading food labels. A serving should have no more than 2 grams of fat and should make up less than 7% of your daily calories.
Saturated fat is commonly found in:
- Animal products such as beef, pork, chicken skin, and sausage.
- Cooking oils such as palm oil and coconut oil.
- Whole dairy products, such as cheese and butter.
- Eliminate trans fats
Trans fats are found in many packaged foods, especially sweets and snack foods. And be careful with your favorite fried foods, which are high in this type of fat.
Trans fats are bad for your body, not only raising cholesterol but also increasing markers of inflammation. This can lead to inflammation of the blood vessels, a risk factor for heart attack.
2. Eat a plant-based diet
To lower your cholesterol, try cutting back on red meat and shellfish, which can raise your cholesterol levels.
The best way to lower your cholesterol is to switch to a plant-based diet while still trying to diversify your diet. Beans, legumes, and spinach are just a few foods that can lower your cholesterol while still providing plenty of protein.
If you’re not ready to switch to a completely plant-based diet, that’s okay. The cholesterol in fatty fish can also be part of a heart-healthy diet that helps lower your cholesterol. Try to eat two servings of salmon, tuna, sardines, mackerel, or herring each week.
3. Eat enough fiber
Ideally, you should eat 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day. Fiber binds to cholesterol and helps move it out of your body.
To increase your fiber intake, eat plenty of whole grains, legumes like beans and lentils, vegetables, and fruits. You should eat a mix of soluble fiber, which is better for your cholesterol, and insoluble fiber, which is better for your gut health.
Eating enough fiber also helps reduce your risk of disease, prevents constipation, and keeps you fuller longer.
4. Add flaxseeds to your diet
Flaxseeds, a type of soluble fiber, are a good source of protein and potassium. They also contain lignans, which help protect against diseases like cancer and heart disease.
Eat flaxseeds whole rather than in pill or oil form, and try to get two to three tablespoons of ground flaxseeds a day, added to cereal, yogurt, or salad.
5. Get active
Exercise can have a significant impact on your cholesterol, specifically by increasing “good” cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL) and lowering triglycerides.
You should be physically active for at least two and a half hours a week. And of course, exercise is also great for your mental health, can lower blood pressure, reduce your risk of diabetes, and more.
Exercise can also help you lose weight, which has an effect on your cholesterol. If you lose a small amount of weight, your HDL will increase and your LDL will decrease.
6. Quit smoking
There are many reasons to quit smoking, and your cholesterol is just one of them. The risk factors of smoking are additive, meaning they build up on each other. If you have high cholesterol and smoke, you double your risk.
7. Manage stress
Stress is incredibly important for heart health. Stress produces a hormone that increases blood pressure, heart rate, and the risk of heart attack and stroke. It can also cause us to eat unhealthy foods, sleep less, and drink more.
Try your best to manage stress through meditation, yoga, journaling, therapy, and other stress management techniques. It can help improve your overall health, including your cholesterol levels.
