5 Heart Healthy Foods to Help Lower Your Cholesterol

By making some changes to your diet and incorporating heart healthy foods and healthy snacks, you can start seeing positive changes in your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Following are five heart healthy foods to begin adding to your diet today:-

Salmon and other fatty fish Many studies have shown that salmon and other fatty fish contain significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which help increase HDL cholesterol, while lowering LDL cholesterol. Omega-3 is found in the fish oil, and also helps protect the heart by lowering blood pressure.

Oatmeal and oat bran contain soluble fiber, which has been shown to lower your LDL cholesterol. It does this by lowering the amount of cholesterol absorbed by your intestines.It takes only 5 to 10 grams of this type of fiber each day to positively impact your cholesterol levels. Since a cup and a half of cooked oatmeal has about 6 grams of fiber, just add some fresh fruit, such as blueberries, and you will easily reach 10 grams. Pears, apples, beans, whole grains and prunes are also very good sources of soluble fiber and thus heart healthy foods as well. Heart healthy oatmeal snacks, like Corazonas Oatmeal Squares, are made with whole grains.

Soy Soybeans contain many heart healthy nutrients, including plant sterols and soluble fiber. They also contain phytochemicals known as isoflavones, which also help to increase your HDL levels while reducing LDL levels.

Foods fortified with plant sterols or stanols Foods are now available which have been fortified with sterols or stanols - substances found in plants that naturally help block the absorption of cholesterol.

You can begin decreasing your cholesterol levels today by adding these five heart healthy foods to your daily diet. Add other foods or healthy snacks high in soluble fiber and omega-3 fatty acids and you may find that you never need medication to control your cholesterol.