What Foods Should I Avoid to Lower My High Cholesterol?

ON Mar 4, 2010 at 5:11PM

2 chimes

What foods should I avoid to lower my high cholesterol?

Question:
Elizabeth Ricanati, M.D.
ABOUT THE EXPERT

Elizabeth Ricanati, M.D.

Elizabeth Ricanati, M.D., is the founding medical director of Lifestyle 180, an innovative Cleveland Clinic program aimed at treating and... Read more

High cholesterol levels can clog your arteries and put you at risk for heart disease and metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Fortunately, there is much you can do to lower your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and raise your HDL (“good”) cholesterol. Chief among these are making changes to your diet and the amount of physical activity you engage in.

For example, limiting your saturated fat (that’s the fat that primarily comes from four-legged animals) and avoiding all trans fat (think tropical oils such as palm and coconut oil, as well as partially hydrogenated oil) can lower your LDL cholesterol. Increasing your omega-3 fatty acid consumption can raise your HDL (think salmon and walnuts). Physical activity is another great way to boost your HDL. According to the American Heart Association, physical activity can increase HDL in some people. A higher HDL level is linked with a lower risk of developing heart disease. For more info, check out this helpful video on 360-5.com, Eat to Beat High Cholesterol.

Answer:
Chime In
Chime in now!
    More to Explore
    Can You Get Chicken Pox More Than Once? Acquiring chicken pox almost always gives the child lifelong immunity to the disease. The severity of the chicken pox infection does not seem to significantly affect this immunity. In other words, whether you have five lesions or 205 lesions, the immu MORE
    Chicken pox FAQ I have received a quite a few questions concerning chicken pox. Below is a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) concerning this topic. What is chicken pox? Chicken pox has a fa MORE
    Is dental anesthesia in early pregnancy safe? Receiving dental treatment during pregnancy is not considered to be taboo anymore. In fact, regular checkups and cleanings are recommended by the American Dental Association. The local anesthetic should not worry you. In fact, a very low perce MORE
    ADHD Drug Shortage Has Patients, Parents Scrambling - iVillage WEDNESDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Due to an ongoing shortage, some American adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or the parents of ... MORE
    Topical anesthetic before needle? - iVillage If local anesthesia needs to be obtained more quickly or penetrating twice is not an ... Stroke Rates Up in Pregnant Women, New Moms, Study Finds; His Lordship: Lazy 14 ... MORE
    Aspartame: Is aspartame safe during pregnancy? Aspartame is a sweetener used as a replacement for sugar in many foods because it is about 200 times sweeter than sugar; therefore, the quantity needed is a lot less. Many people have questioned the safety of aspartame, and many studies have been perf MORE
    More Q&As

    See All Q&As

    Advertisement
    Care Circle

    It Seems That You Are Not Logged In...

    OR

    Join Now

    Welcome to Care Circle, an exclusive tool to help you take care of yourself and your loved ones. Here's how it works:

    1. Create profiles for yourself and your loved ones.
    2. Select the topics and conditions that interest each of you.
    3. Get customized news updates, original content, tools, and expert advice for each Care Circle member delivered directly to your personalized homepage.

    The information you input is strictly private; you choose who has access to your Care Circle.

    How do I add myself or someone else to my care circle?

    Click on "Add someone." Fill out the short profile. Choose an avatar. Select the topics and conditions that interest this person from the pulldown menu. You can select as many as you want, but you must choose at least one. Click on "Add Someone" again. You should start getting updates immediately.

    How do I save content to my Care Circle?

    Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab of the person for whom you're saving content. Put your cursor over the piece of content that you want to save; a disk icon will appear in the righthand corner. Click on the disk and the piece of content will be moved to a save folder.

    How do I add additional topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?

    Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Add More to Follow," select additional topics and conditions.

    How do I delete topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?

    Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Follows," scroll over the topic or condition you want to delete. An "X" should appear on the righthand side. Click on the "X" and the topic or condition will be deleted from the list.

    See All News

    Advertisement