High cholesterol levels can damage your arteries, increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke. So keeping your cholesterol at a safe level is essential. The Mayo Clinic recommends four foods that can help keep your cholesterol levels in check.
Controlling cholesterol at a safe level is extremely necessary (Source: Commonhealth)
Oatmeal
Eating oats is a way to improve blood lipids, which can reduce the risk of coronary artery disease and heart disease. The soluble fiber in oats reduces the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine, while also reducing bad cholesterol and triglycerides. Consuming 5-10 grams of soluble fiber per day can reduce LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) by about 5%.
Other foods rich in water-soluble fiber include barley, green beans, apples, peaches, melons, mushrooms, seaweed, and black fungus.
Nuts
Nuts such as almonds, peanuts, walnuts, cashews and chestnuts contain unsaturated fatty acids, which can lower cholesterol and maintain the health and elasticity of arteries.
A study presented at the World Heart Association Annual Meeting , collected data from nearly 400,000 people in 10 European countries and found that those who ate more nuts had a lower risk of coronary heart disease.
People who eat 13 grams of nuts a day have a 40% lower risk of coronary heart disease than those who eat less than 1 gram.
Experts suggest that you should eat 8 grams twice a week to get the right amount of unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants.
Soybeans
Soybeans are low in saturated fat, and replacing animal protein with soy protein can lower bad cholesterol without affecting good cholesterol. In addition, the isoflavones, fiber, and omega 3 in soybeans are also good for the heart.
Orange juice
Orange juice contains plant sterols. Recent studies have shown that consuming 2 to 3 grams of plant sterols per day can reduce bad cholesterol by 6% to 15% without affecting good cholesterol.
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