Healthy Diet to Lower Cholesterol

Your health care provider has asked you to start eating a heart-healthy, low cholesterol diet. The best ways to do this are:

  • Eat a balanced diet with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein
  • Limit saturated fats and trans fats by choosing heart-healthy unsaturated fats
  • Limit refined carbohydrates, especially sugar, sweets, and sugar-sweetened drinks
  • Eat more plant-based or vegetarian meals using beans and soy foods for protein

Lower Cholesterol

  • Limit saturated fat. Choose lean proteins like chicken, turkey, fish, and low-fat dairy foods.
  • Saturated fat is usually found in animal-based protein. It is associated with high
    low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in your body. LDL cholesterol is often called “bad cholesterol.” Your dietitian can help you figure out how much saturated fat is right for you.
  • Avoid trans-fats.
  • Trans fats increase levels of LDL-cholesterol. This fat is in processed foods like margarine, shortening, processed sweets, baked goods, fried foods, and packaged foods made with hydrogenated oils.
  • Avoid foods with “partially hydrogenated oil” listed on the nutrition label. These oils may be found in cookies, pastries, baked goods, biscuits, crackers, microwave popcorn, and frozen dinners.
  • Choose foods with heart-healthy unsaturated fats.
  • Unsaturated fats are most often found in plant foods. They may help lower your blood cholesterol level. Use them in place of saturated fat in your diet.
  • Sources of unsaturated fat include salmon, avocado, olive oil, canola oil, avocado oil, seeds, nuts, and nut butters.
  • Foods with refined carbohydrates and added sugars may raise triglyceride levels, which leads to heart disease.
  • Limit refined carbohydrates.
  • A refined carbohydrate has undergone heavy processing. It loses fiber, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Examples include white bread and white pasta.
    • Choose, whole grain products such as whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and whole grain bread.
  • Choose food products with less added sugars.
  • Some foods have sugar in them naturally, like fruit and dairy products. However, food companies may add more sugar to sweeten the product.
  • Examples of foods with high amounts of added sugars include sugar-sweetened drinks (soda, juice, Kool-Aid®, sports drinks), cereals, condiments, tomato sauces, crackers or chips, and desserts
  • Reach and maintain a healthy weight.
  • Talk with your dietitian or health care provider about what is a healthy weight for you. Set goals to reach and maintain that weight.
  • Stay active
  • Talk with your health care team to find out what types of physical activity are best for you. Make a plan to get 30 to 60 minutes of exercise each day.

Foods to Eat and Foods to Avoid

Food group

Foods to eat

Foods to limit

Grains

· whole grains or whole wheat products, including oats and barley

· pasta, especially whole wheat or other whole grain types

· brown rice, quinoa, or wild rice

· whole grain crackers, bread, rolls, pitas

· high fat baked goods – cakes doughnuts, biscuits, croissants, pastries, pies, cookies

· snacks made with partially hydrogenated oils – chips, cheese puffs, snack mixes, regular crackers, butter-flavored popcorn, and sugary cereals

Vegetables

· fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables

· fried vegetables or vegetables made with butter, cheese, or a cream sauce

Fruits

· fresh, frozen, dried, or canned fruit in 100% juice

· fruit canned in high-fructose corn syrup or fruit served with butter
or cream

Protein

· skinless poultry – chicken turkey, duck, goose, or goat

· seafood

· lean cuts of beef and pork – loin, leg, round, extra lean hamburger

· venison (deer meat) and other wild game

· beans and peas

· nuts and nut butters

· meat substitutes made with soy or textured vegetable protein (tofu, tempeh)

· egg whites or egg substitute

· cold cuts made with lean meat or soy protein

· high fat cuts of meat – ribs, T-bone steaks, regular hamburger, lamb

· cold cuts – pepperoni, salami, bologna

· fried meat, poultry, and fish – fried chicken

· hot dogs, bacon, or sausage made from pork or beef

· organ meats – liver, brain sweetbread, heart, kidney, gizzards

· poultry with skins – chicken, turkey, duck, goose

· corned beef

Dairy

· nonfat (skim), low-fat, or 1%-fat milk or buttermilk

· nonfat or low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese

· greek yogurt

· fat-free and low-fat cheese

· fortified non-dairy milk – soy, almond, cashew, pea, and oat milk

· whole milk, 2% milk

· whole milk yogurt or ice cream

· cream, half and half

· cream cheese

· sour cream

· whole fat cheese

Oil

· unsaturated oils – canola, olive, avocado, flaxseed, and safflower

· seeds and nuts

· avocado

· butter, stick margarine

· shortening

· partially hydrogenated oils

· tropical oils – coconut, palm, palm kernel

Other

 

· candy, sugar sweetened soft drinks, desserts

Follow-Up

Talk to your health care provider or dietitian if you have any questions about lowering your cholesterol. 

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