It is well known that lowering LDL cholesterol with a diet, especially a balanced one, is one of the most important and safest steps.
But, sometimes when this diet doesn’t work, you have to take drugs. And you’ll expect their side effects to show off soon or later.
On the other hand, when it comes to what foods to choose as part of your diet for lowering LDL cholesterol, it’s very difficult to make the right choice.
Keep in mind that if you want to try lowering LDL cholesterol with a diet, that does not mean only eating ‘low cholesterol’ products.
But you need to follow a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and fish and avoid red meats, yolks, and cheese. All these foods will help you lower your high LDL levels.
Christopher Gardner, a researcher at Stanford University who specializes in nutrition states that the constituents of plant-based diets actively interact to improve cholesterol profiles. That’s why you should follow these types of diets.
If you limit your fat intake to less than 7% of your total calories then LDL cholesterol will lower by 8 to 10%. Meanwhile, if you reduce cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg/dl, which will lower your LDL by 3-5%.
Even if you add more soluble fiber to your daily diet for example 5 to 10 grams/day, will help you lower LDL cholesterol 3 to 5%. But, in case you eat up to 2grams/day of plant sterols or stanols, your LDL will be lowered by up to 15%.
If you follow the above simple rules and organize your meals towards all these foods that lower cholesterol, then your LDL cholesterol will be lowered by approximately 20%
So, you may understand that lowering LDL cholesterol with diet needs determination and good knowledge on your part.
According to Dean Ornish, the founder of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, Calif, a diet is not enough to lower your LDL cholesterol.
If regular exercise, stress reduction, and social support are added to the diet, all these multipronged approaches can lower LDL by 40 percent.
What is more, they can cause plaques to shrink. And this is something that statins have not been proven to do.
