Easy Diet Choices to Cut Your LDL Cholesterol

Cholesterol isn’t inherently a bad thing: it’s a substance in your body that helps create vitamin D and makes various hormones. However, if it’s in your body in too high of quantities it can result in plaque deposits in your arteries. This causes your arteries to narrow and can increase your likelihood of a heart attack. LDL cholesterol in particular is the more dangerous variety, as it puts you at much higher risk of heart disease.

There are some easy choices you can make in order to cut your LDL cholesterol levels. These dietary choices go hand-in-hand with exercise and wellness and speaking to professional nutritionists is a good way to stay up on your good diet choices.

Easy Diet Choices to Cut Your LDL Cholesterol

What is Cholesterol?

First, let’s get into what, exactly, cholesterol is. It’s a waxy substance that your body naturally produces and it helps to regulate hormones and vitamin D. Cholesterol is created by your liver from materials you absorb from foods that you eat. That’s why your diet has such an impact on your cholesterol!

After your liver creates cholesterol, it is carried throughout your body by lipoproteins, proteins that are fat-based. Low-density lipoproteins, or LDL, take the cholesterol throughout your body and is often called “bad cholesterol.” LDL cholesterol, in too high quantities, can cause serious problems for your body if plaque buildups develop.

High density lipoproteins, or HDL, often gets called “good cholesterol.” That’s because HDL picks up excess cholesterol from your cells and organs and carries it back to the liver. If your HDL levels are too low and your LDL levels are too high, your cholesterol levels in your body will remain at dangerously high levels.

Dangers

There are a number of serious dangers inherent with high cholesterol, but there aren’t many symptoms. The side-effects of high cholesterol levels do carry some symptoms though, and they’re worth keeping in mind. If you’re experiencing chest pains, heartburn and indigestion, dizziness or lightheadedness, irregular heartbeat, cold sweats or swollen extremities you should see a doctor.

If your doctor identifies this as high cholesterol then you have some options when it comes to getting it lower. Exercise, or at least regular physical activity, is the first thing any doctor will tell you about for cholesterol control. Diet is one of the most reliable ways to control your cholesterol. Your doctor may prescribe medication to help control it as well, though that’s not always the case.

If you’re prescribed medicine, make sure to take it only as prescribed by your doctor. Many types of medicine can be prescribed for cholesterol, though the most common ones are statins and niacin. Statins reduce your liver’s capacity to create cholesterol, while niacin is a B vitamin that lowers LDL and heightens HDL.

Drinks

The most straightforward way you can fight cholesterol is simply by changing your diet. There are a number of foods you can pick to try to reduce your LDL cholesterol. For example, one of the most often-cited things you can ingest to lower your LDL is red wine. The kind of grapes that are used to create red wines, Tempranillo grapes, are high in fiber. These grapes are well-known for their ability to help reduce LDL cholesterol. As such, having a glass of red wine made from Tempranillo grapes in the evening can be really good for you! Remember, though, to drink in moderation and responsibly.

Another drink to keep high on your list of things to keep your cholesterol down is black tea. Try switching your morning coffee out for black tea! Black tea is full of antioxidants and other great things that help your body. Notably, studies have found that those who drink black tea daily have ten percent lower cholesterol than control groups.

Less Meat

Animal products create cholesterol, so opting to eat less meat can be great for your cholesterol. Maybe consider doing meatless Mondays, or even cutting back to one meat dish a day. Many people have cited cholesterol and health concerns for why they’re vegetarian or even vegan. Of course you can eat unhealthy foods on those diets, but they will help you to cut back on your cholesterol.

Cutting back is also good for your budget! Meat is expensive, after all, so eating more produce can be good for your wallet. If you’re looking for ways to save on your groceries, cutting back on meat is the right call. Watch out for your health while watching out for your money!

Foods to Choose

As for foods, opt for more nuts in your diet! Nuts are high in fat, but not the bad kind. Walnuts, cashews, peanuts, pistachios and the like are all fantastic sources of good fats. In the same wheelhouse is the avocado, which is also quite high in good fats. These are great foods to replace meats if you’re looking to reduce cholesterol.

Oats are another fantastic choice for cutting back on cholesterol. Adding a few scoops of oats to your diet can help reduce cholesterol greatly. If you want to incorporate oats easily into your diet you can do so with the popular breakfast dish overnight oats. Look up recipes for overnight oats to find some delicious and healthy breakfast options!

Dark chocolates are also quite high in antioxidants. Milk chocolates aren’t so good for you, but the dark chocolates are where it’s at. These antioxidants help you to increase your HDL cholesterol which helps regulate your body’s LDL levels.

Final Thoughts

Remember, a good diet and lots of exercise are some of the best things for cholesterol. Make sure you stay active and get lots of time outside or in the gym. When it comes to your health, it’s never a bad idea to speak to your doctor. If you feel like you’re struggling with high cholesterol, speak to your physician and get a professional opinion on how you should proceed with your condition.

After all, it’s not hard to live well, you just need to make a concentrated effort and keep at it!