Diet can help -- or harm -- your cholesterol. In this Health Smarts video, Kevin Soden, MD, reveals good nutrition advice about the best food combination to lower cholesterol. Learn what to eat, from fruits and vegetables to whole grains.
Hi, Dr. Kevin Soden here with a tip about improving your cholesterol. You know that diet is important but rather than focus on a specific food aim for a winning combination of foods. It's called a poly diet, that includes, lots of fruits and veggies. Produce is loaded with artery protecting phytochemicals also soluble fiber in some fruits and veggies escorts cholesterol out of you body via your digestive system.
Choose good fats, that's the kind found in avocados, nuts, olives and seeds. These unsaturated fats helps produce lousy LDL by boosting heart healthy HDL. Go for whole grains these goodies help belt belly fat and a lot lower levels of inflammation. Add plant sterols and stanols. These cool compounds found in small amounts of produce and whole grains, block the absorption of some of the cholesterol you eat.
You'll get a bigger dose from a plant's sterol enhance of bread spread, salad dressing or yogurt. Swap in soy, it's a great way to replace LDL raising saturated fat, use crumbled tofu instead of hamburger in your lasagna, soy sausage instead of pork-limbs. A glass of a soy milk instead of a shake.
For more ways to pamper your heart watch all our smart tips.
Healthy cholesterol helps prevent cardiovascular disease. Get tips to lower high cholesterol with diet, exercise and medication, to protect your heart and reduce your stroke risk. Learn about the difference between HDL and LDL cholesterol.
See All Heart Health