Veggie Blog

How to lower cholesterol through diet

Many people believe that the trend towards low cholesterol diets comes from young people dieting themselves to death, but this is not so. Keeping cholesterol levels in check is not only a matter of appearance but also of health. High cholesterol levels can cause a host of complications and diseases, including heart attack and stroke, which can even cause death.

Problems such as hypertension, heart disease and diabetes come to mind. This is especially relevant for older people and those in middle age, because cholesterol levels tend to rise with age and the body’s processes, especially digestion and the conversion of fats to energy, slow down. This is perhaps why doctors often ask older people, especially those with weight issues, to reduce the saturated fat and cholesterol they eat.

What is cholesterol?

People have been talking about cholesterol, but do they know what it is and how it affects the body? Because of the rising number of heart problems in the country, cholesterol has become a public enemy. Everybody thinks that cholesterol is bad.

Actually, not all cholesterol is bad for the body. In fact, our bodies need cholesterol to make bile salts. It is also a main ingredient in maintaining hormonal balance and in the production of vitamin D. Things become troublesome when the levels get too high and the cholesterol builds up in the arteries, making it hard for the blood to flow and the heart to pump.

There are two kinds of cholesterol, the good and the bad. LDL is the bad kind. It sticks to the artery walls and forms plaques that eventually narrow the passage. Saturated fats and trans fats raise LDL, and they are often found in packaged foods such as potato snacks and baked goods.

HDL, on the other hand, is the good kind and helps to lower LDL levels. It picks up LDL cholesterol from the artery walls and carries it to the liver, where it is removed from the body. Unlike LDL, HDL is not something you eat: your body makes it. Regular exercise, not smoking and healthy fats, such as those in nuts, fish and olive oil, help keep HDL levels up.

People who need to lower their LDL levels are also advised to eat plenty of fruit because of the fiber it provides. Oats, cereals and legumes are also great sources of soluble fiber, which can help combat the rise of LDL cholesterol and so reduce the risk of heart disease.

Factors that affect cholesterol levels

Contrary to popular opinion, it is not only food that matters when dealing with high cholesterol levels. There are actually a lot of factors that affect the condition. One of them is age and gender: levels tend to rise as we get older. Another is physical activity. Exercise can help lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL, and it also strengthens the body and tones the muscles. Genetics, weight and smoking play a role too.

Lowering cholesterol levels

From what was said above, it seems wise to lower cholesterol levels, if one has the discipline to see it through. Just eat right and exercise regularly, limit packaged and fried foods, and you are on your way to lower cholesterol levels.

Exercise and cholesterol: how physical activity helps

Cholesterol is a substance found in every human body. It is one of the many things the body produces in order to function properly.

Unfortunately, a diet high in sugar, saturated fat and alcohol can do more harm than good. Over time it raises the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack and stroke.

The good news is that there are ways to prevent this before it happens. It takes some effort and hard work, especially as the body becomes less forgiving with age.

Why exercise helps

Along with eating less and improving your diet, exercise is one of the most effective ways to improve your cholesterol. Regular activity raises your heart rate, helps with weight control, raises HDL (the good cholesterol) and can modestly lower LDL and triglycerides.

Getting started safely

Those who have not exercised before should first talk to a doctor to find out what is safe. People with a heart condition may not be able to do strenuous exercise and may need low-impact activities such as walking, stretching or light weights.

If the doctor says the patient can do more intense exercise, options include running, swimming, aerobics and cycling. The right type of activity depends on several factors, not only medical history, but also gender, age and weight.

The doctor can recommend an activity, and the person can pass this on to a fitness instructor so they know what is safe. From there, an exercise program can be made, and all the patient has to do is follow it.

After a month or two, there are often improvements in good and bad cholesterol levels, as well as some weight loss.

Exercise works best together with a healthy diet, and it does not replace medication. If your doctor has prescribed a cholesterol-lowering drug, keep taking it and ask before making changes; for many people, medicine and exercise work together to lower cholesterol.

Easy ways to be more active

If you do not have time to go to a gym, there are other ways to work your muscles and raise your heart rate. For starters, you can go for a brisk walk early in the morning or before work.

Some companies and hospitals encourage people to walk up one or two flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator. If your workplace has a big parking lot, you can park a little further from the door and walk the extra distance.

During any exercise, it is best to drink plenty of water. This prevents dehydration, which can lead to exhaustion. Instead of going to the fountain every few minutes, bring a water bottle.

This saves time and lets you keep pace with the group activity or the work you are doing on the machine.

Someone once said that health is wealth. By exercising, you can improve your cholesterol and lower your risk of heart disease, unlike those who know the dangers but never make any lifestyle changes.

The old version of this post said that high cholesterol is a growing problem, that heart disease is “highly preventable,” and that lowering cholesterol naturally is possible through diet, exercise and supplements. That is partly true, and this rewrite keeps the question and checks each part against reliable sources.

Why does cholesterol matter?

MedlinePlus explains that too much cholesterol in your blood can stick to the walls of your arteries and narrow or even block them, which raises your risk of coronary artery disease and other heart diseases. According to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, heart disease was the leading cause of death in the United States in 2023, with 680,981 deaths, or 22.0 percent of all deaths. The old post said heart disease is “highly preventable.” A healthy lifestyle lowers your risk, but it cannot guarantee that you will avoid it, especially if your genes or other conditions are involved.

Which natural steps have good evidence?

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute lists these lifestyle changes for lowering LDL (“bad”) cholesterol:

Eat heart-healthy foods, such as in the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) and DASH eating plans, which limit saturated fat and favor whole grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts. Get regular physical activity, which can lower LDL and triglycerides and raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol. Aim for a healthy weight, because losing only 3 to 5 percent of your body weight can lower LDL and raise HDL. Manage stress, quit smoking, sleep 7 to 9 hours a night and limit alcohol. This matches the old post’s advice on diet, exercise and quitting smoking, and adds weight, sleep and stress.

What about the foods the old post named?

The old post recommended soy products, vegetables, fruit and high-fiber foods. MedlinePlus agrees that soluble fiber helps prevent your digestive tract from absorbing cholesterol, and suggests 10 to 25 grams a day from foods such as oatmeal, oat bran, apples, oranges, pears, beans and lentils. It also recommends keeping saturated fat below 7 percent of your daily calories. For a food-by-food guide, see eating to lower cholesterol with oats, fruit, beans and healthy fats.

Do niacin and lecithin work?

The old post said B-complex vitamins, niacin in particular, and lecithin can lower cholesterol. This is the weakest part of the old text. Niacin in doses high enough to affect cholesterol is a drug-level dose and should be used only under a doctor’s supervision, and I could not find solid evidence that lecithin supplements lower cholesterol. Our post on cholesterol, vitamins and drugs looks at the evidence for both.

When is medicine needed?

The old post said drugs are mostly for high-risk patients. The NHLBI puts it differently: your provider may recommend lifestyle changes and medicines, and the plan depends on your cholesterol levels, your risk of heart disease, other medical conditions and your lifestyle. Statins are the most common medicine and, according to the NHLBI, lower the risk of heart attack and stroke in people with high LDL cholesterol. If you have a strong family history of high cholesterol, lifestyle changes may not be enough on their own. Never stop a prescribed medicine without talking to your provider.

What should you do next?

Ask for a cholesterol test and learn what the numbers mean in understanding your cholesterol numbers. Add exercise and cholesterol to your routine, and use the CDC’s data brief on U.S. deaths in 2023 as a reminder of why it matters.

Big portions, fried snacks and fast food have changed how many of us eat, and our arteries pay for it. Too much saturated fat and too many calories lead to high LDL cholesterol, weight gain, high blood pressure and a higher chance of heart disease and stroke. The encouraging part is that most of this can be changed in your own kitchen, one habit at a time.

Do diet and exercise both matter?

Yes, and they work best together. Eating better helps your cholesterol, and regular activity helps it too: the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute notes that physical activity can lower LDL and triglycerides and raise HDL, the “good” cholesterol. Adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, such as brisk walking, and our post on exercise and cholesterol explains how activity changes your numbers. If you have been inactive or have a heart condition, ask your doctor what level is right for you, and build up gradually. See the NHLBI page on treating high cholesterol for more.

Why eat less fried food?

Fried food, such as chips, fries, fried chicken and fried fish, soaks up oil and adds many calories. The oil itself, if it comes from plants, contains no cholesterol, but the batter, the animal fat and the extra calories all work against you, and frying often goes together with saturated fat. Cooking methods that need little fat are better: boiling, steaming, baking, braising and grilling. Grilled food is fine too. Our post on foods to avoid to lower cholesterol lists more of the usual culprits.

What about meat and poultry?

Fatty meat and the skin on poultry are rich in saturated fat. If you eat meat, choose lean cuts, trim visible fat and take the skin off chicken or turkey. Even better, eat meat less often and replace it with beans, lentils, tofu or fish. Plant foods contain no cholesterol, and they add fiber.

Why are vegetables so useful?

Vegetables have no cholesterol and almost no fat, and they are a good source of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Eat them raw, steamed or lightly sautéed rather than fried or covered in a rich sauce, and try to fill half your plate with them. Oils and creamy dressings can turn a healthy salad into a high-fat dish, so use them sparingly.

Does portion size matter?

It does. Eating a bit less at each meal, and cutting out extra snacks, helps you lose weight, which is closely tied to cholesterol levels. If you do snack, reach for fruit, a few nuts or raw vegetables. For carbohydrates, such as rice, cereal and bread, choose whole-grain versions like brown rice and whole-wheat bread, which give you more fiber than refined ones.

What is a good way to start?

Do not try to change everything in one week. Pick one habit, for example a baked rather than fried dinner three nights a week, and keep it up for a month before you add another. See our example of a day of eating to lower cholesterol to see how this can look in real life, and talk to your doctor or a dietitian if your cholesterol is high. Regular checkups are the only way to know if your changes are working.

Nobody can lower cholesterol overnight, and a number of things that raise it are out of your hands. Still, there is a lot you can do, and for some people a doctor will add medicine on top. This post explains what pushes LDL, the so-called “bad” cholesterol, up, what lifestyle changes realistically do, and what you should know about statins before you talk to your doctor.

What makes LDL cholesterol rise?

Some causes you cannot change. Your cholesterol tends to rise as you get older, and after menopause a woman’s risk goes up because her levels of protective female hormones fall. High cholesterol also runs in families, and an inherited condition called familial hypercholesterolemia causes very high levels from an early age. Diabetes, kidney disease and some medicines can raise LDL as well. The causes you can change are mainly what you eat, how much you move and your weight. A diet rich in saturated fat from fatty meat, full-fat dairy and fried or processed food raises LDL more than anything else in the diet, according to MedlinePlus.

Can you lower it instantly?

No. The idea that diet and exercise are “a waste of time” because they do not work at once is a myth. Eating less saturated fat, adding fiber from oats, beans and fruit, losing extra weight and moving more all lower LDL gradually over weeks and months, and they also help your blood pressure and blood sugar. Your doctor will usually repeat the blood test after a few months to see how far you have come. Start with our guides on what you can do to lower your cholesterol, how to lower cholesterol through diet and exercise and cholesterol.

When do doctors add medicine?

If changes to your lifestyle do not bring your LDL down enough, or if your risk of heart disease is high, your doctor may prescribe a statin. Statins lower LDL by slowing down how much cholesterol the liver makes, and they help the liver remove LDL already in the blood. Studies have shown that they lower the risk of heart attack and stroke in people with high LDL. Statins usually cause no side effects. They may raise the risk of type 2 diabetes, mostly in people who are already at high risk of it, and they can cause abnormal liver blood tests, although real liver damage is very rare. Muscle damage is also rare. You should not take statins if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Grapefruit and grapefruit juice can interfere with some statins, so ask your doctor or pharmacist. See the MedlinePlus page on statins for more detail.

You may see exact percentages quoted for one brand-name statin in drug company announcements. Results differ with the drug, the dose and the person, so do not expect to match a figure from an advertisement. Other medicines exist too, such as ezetimibe, which blocks cholesterol absorption in the gut, and bile acid sequestrants. Which one suits you is a decision for you and your doctor.

What should you tell your doctor?

Before you start any cholesterol medicine, tell your doctor about any liver or kidney problems, and whether you are pregnant or planning to be. Mention how much alcohol you drink, whether high cholesterol or early heart disease runs in your family, and whether you have diabetes, a thyroid condition or a past heart attack or stroke. List every other prescription, over-the-counter medicine and supplement you take, including antacids. Mild side effects such as an upset stomach or muscle aches should be reported, and they often settle or improve if the drug or dose is changed.

Which cooking oil is best?

Some articles claim that coconut oil is the best oil for cholesterol. That is not what the evidence shows. A 2017 advisory from the American Heart Association found that coconut oil raises LDL cholesterol, as butter and palm oil do, and it advises against using it. The advisory recommends replacing saturated fats with unsaturated ones, and olive oil, which is low in saturated fat, is one good choice. Other plant oils such as canola, sunflower and soybean oil also work.

The bottom line: aim to change your habits first, have your cholesterol checked regularly, and treat medicine as an extra tool when your doctor thinks you need it, never as a replacement for healthy eating and exercise.

Book: Lower LDL Cholesterol Naturally with Food by Michael Greger and Kristine Dennis
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