How to Lower LDL Cholesterol by Eating the Right Foods

 

It is important to know how to lower LDL cholesterol, as you can end up with a lot of health problems if your LDL cholesterol gets out of control.




While cholesterol is important for all kinds of body functions, the truth is that lowering your LDL cholesterol is essential in order to avoid heart problems.

There are all kinds of ways that you can learn how to lower cholesterol naturally:, such as eating good cholesterol foods, taking cholesterol medications, and following a diet to avoid high cholesterol.

Finding the best diet to avoid high cholesterol is important, and you need to know which foods are the best to avoid high cholesterol.

Read on to find out more about how to lower ldl cholesterol


Why It Is Important to Learn How to Lower LDL Cholesterol

It is very important that you work on lowering LDL cholesterol levels in your body, as your LDL cholesterol is the stuff that will cause all the health issues.

While cholesterol is needed for regulating your hormones, strengthening the walls of your body’s cells, and many more functions, when it gets out of control all kinds of problems can set in.


Your Body’s Defense System to High LDL Cholesterol Sets off an Unfortunate Chain Reaction, Oxidation

When your LDL cholesterol levels get too high, your blood is filled with these low density particles that are floating around uselessly. As they float around, they stick to the walls of your arteries.

Your body sees these particles as an invader, and so it sends the white blood cells to attack them and get rid of them.

However, this causes even more problems, as the white blood cells attacking the cholesterol particles basically cause a chemical reaction in the cholesterol.

This chemical reaction is oxidation, and the oxidation causes the cholesterol particles to harden on the walls of the arteries. This hardening causes plaque to begin to form.


The Real Problem – the Building of Plaque – Takes Place Inside Your Arteries

When plaque forms on the walls of your arteries, it provides a surface that is easy for other cholesterol particles to stick to.

As more and more cholesterol sticks to the arterial walls, more and more of it is attacked and oxidized. The result is a spreading of the plaque on the walls of your arteries, and this is when the real trouble begins.

As more and more cholesterol hardens, the plaque builds up and causes the arteries to become narrower and narrower.

This can cause the flow of blood to be reduced, as all the blood cells have to squeeze past the blockage in order to reach their destination.

Imagine, if you will, construction on a highway causing all the cars to merge into a single lane, and you will have an idea of what the narrowing of the arteries as a result of plaque can do.

Illustration of normale artery and an artery with plaque on the walls.


The Road You Don’t Want to Go – How too High LDL Cholesterol May Result in a Heart Attack or Stroke

So, already your body is getting less oxygen than it should, which means that your muscles and organs can start shutting down.

However, sometimes the plaque on the walls of the arteries gets to be too hard, and this hardening can actually crack. When the plaque cracks, it also causes the arterial wall behind the plaque to crack along with it.

Seeing as this would cause bleeding from your arteries, your body rushes to clot the injury and repair it.

However, the clot stops blood from getting past, meaning that anything on the other side of that clot isn’t getting blood.

If the thing on the other side of the clot is your heart, your heart cells can begin to die as a result of the clot – also known as a heart attack.

If the clot is near your brain, a stroke may be the result.


How to Lower LDL Cholesterol with Good Cholesterol Foods

So, you can see why learning how to lower LDL cholesterol is important, but what is the best way to do so?

For those who want to lower LDL cholesterol, the best thing to do is to raise your HDL cholesterol.

HDL cholesterol gets rid of the bad cholesterol, so eating good cholesterol foods to boost your good cholesterol is one of the best things to do in order to stay healthy.

Here are some of the good cholesterol foods to eat:


Orange Juice Is a Natural Source of Vitamin C, a Vitamin That Is an Antioxidant That Will Boost Your Body’s Natural Production of Good Cholesterol.

How to lower ldl cholesterol with liquids: a glass of orange juice.

Drinking even a couple of glasses a day can help to cut back on your bad cholesterol by getting more good cholesterol floating through your body.


Eggs Are a Great Source of Good Cholesterol, Though the Egg Whites Are the Best Part for You

How to lower ldl cholesterol with eggs: Eat the egg whites.

The egg yolks contain both good and bad cholesterol, so it’s important to eat no more than four yolks a week in order to get enough good cholesterol without getting all the bad stuff.


Cocoa Contains a Lot of Flavonoids

Cocoa powder. A good cholesterol food.

These flavonoids are a natural antioxidant that will be effective at getting rid of your LDL cholesterol while boosting your HDL cholesterol at the same time.


Fish Is an Amazing Source of Omega 3, a Natural Fatty Acid That Your Body Needs.

Fish, salmon, is great cholesterol lowering foods.

The omega 3 will help to get rid of the bad cholesterol in your body, thus boosting your good HDL levels again.


Onions and Garlic Both Contain Sulfur and other Important Minerals, all of Which Help to Prevent Heart Problems

How to lower ldl cholesterol with onions and garlic. Three kinds of onions.

You will find that the antioxidants in garlic and onions will boost your good cholesterol significantly, thereby reducing your risk of heart problems.


Red Wine Contains Resveratrol, Which Is a Natural Antioxidant That Can Help to Boost Good Cholesterol Production in Your Body

A glass of red wine is known to lower your cholesterol levels.

It also contains flavonoids, which are great for lowering your bad cholesterol.


Quinoa Is a High Fiber Food

How to lower ldl cholesterol with good cholesterol foods: Photo of quinoa.

… and as you may know, fiber helps to soak up the bad cholesterol and boost your natural production of good cholesterol.


Green Tea Is Rich in Polyphenols

Green tea is a great  cholesterol lowering supplement. Green tea leaves.

… which are a natural antioxidant that will help to prevent the chance that the cholesterol will stick to the walls of your arteries. This makes it easier for your body to get rid of the bad cholesterol.

These are just a few of the many foods that you should eat in your diet to lower cholesterol, and you can find a whole list of diet tips below…


Best Diet for High Cholesterol – Your Diet to Control High Cholesterol

If you are serious about lowering your cholesterol before it gets out of control, you will find that eating right is an important part of the process.

Here is a list of foods to help you to lower your cholesterol levels naturally:


Fiber

Fiber is a powerful food that can help to suck up all the bad cholesterol floating around your body, but it comes in many forms.

Grains contain lots of fiber, and whole grains contain a whole lot more fiber than refined grains.

Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber as well, so you would do well to add a few servings of both to your daily diet.


Natural Sugar

The natural sugar in fruits and vegetables will be much better for your cholesterol levels than the sugar you get from refined foods. The natural sugars are turned into energy by your body, and they can help to boost your metabolism.

If you have to eat sugar, it is always best to get natural sugar from fruits and other natural sources rather than going for refined sugars or the sugar in pastries and sweets.


Antioxidants

Antioxidants have a number of benefits, and there are dozens of kinds of antioxidants.

Some will help to coat the insides of your arteries with a protective layer that will prevent the cholesterol from sticking to them, while others will actually stop the cholesterol particles from oxidizing and hardening into plaque. All of them will be important for helping you to lower your cholesterol levels naturally.


Natural Oils and Fats

Natural fat is the good kind, as it is what helps your body to produce more of the good cholesterol that is needed for all the important functions.

It is best to avoid saturated fats – which you can get from meat – and trans fats – which you get from fried foods.

Always try and find the best natural fats from foods like nuts, seeds, avocadoes, coconuts, etc.


Low Fat Protein

Protein is an important nutrient for everyone, but it is often accompanied with a lot of fat – especially animal proteins. For this reason, it is best to avoid the fatty proteins like meat, cheese, and full fat dairy – in favor of low fat proteins like legumes, fish, and egg whites.

If you want to lower your cholesterol, cut out meat and other fatty foods as much as possible.


Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamin C is an important nutrient for your body, as it will help to prevent the oxidization of the cholesterol.

Vitamin E also helps to coat your arteries and stop cholesterol from forming, and minerals like sulfur and selenium will protect your heart. It is important to get as many natural vitamins and minerals as possible, so eating natural foods is important.


Liquids

Don’t forget about all the liquids that your body needs in order to work well.

Water will help your liver, kidneys, and digestive system to work well, which will ensure that the bad cholesterol is eliminated in favor of the good stuff.

Red wine and green tea can be a booster to help improve your cholesterol levels, so you would do well to add both of them to your diet.

If you can eat these foods, you are in for great health and many fewer heart problems!


How to Lower LDL Cholesterol Naturally Through Exercise

How to lower your cholesterol through exercise. Man playing tennis.Exercise is one of the best things that you can do – aside from eating right – to get rid of the bad cholesterol floating around your body.

Exercise will help you to get rid of the fat in your system – fat that can cause heart problems. Triglycerides are basically fat in storage form, but doing exercise will help to get rid of this kind of cholesterol.

Exercise can also help to boost your metabolism, which means that you will absorb a lot less cholesterol into your system. By boosting your metabolism, you will basically improve all of your body functions, which will in turn help your body to natural get rid of cholesterol

Exercise also strengthens your heart, which means that it will be much less likely to have problems like high cholesterol. The exercise won’t only work your cardiovascular system, but it will burn up a lot of the junk floating around inside your arteries – including your cholesterol. By doing exercise you make it a lot easier for your heart to work well.


How to Lower LDL Cholesterol with Cholesterol Lowering Medications

If exercise and dieting don’t work, there are always cholesterol lowering medications that you can use to control your cholesterol levels.

These medications include:

  • Statins help to lower LDL cholesterol levels, and they can even give your HDL levels a boost at the same time. They actually stop your liver from producing so much cholesterol, which will help to cut back on the levels of cholesterol in your body.
  • Niacin is also known as nicotinic acid, but it is still one of the most effective HDL cholesterol boosters out there. By boosting your HDL cholesterol, you can ensure that your body can get rid of the bad cholesterol on its own.
  • Fibrates actually help to break down the particles in your body that are responsible for causing triglycerides to be formed.
  • Bile acid binding resins ensure that your body isn’t absorbing cholesterol.
  • Bile acid sequestrants will stop your body from absorbing the bad cholesterol particles.

However, always consult with your doctor before eating any kind of cholesterol lowering medications.

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