Cholesterol-Lowering Foods: They Do Exist

So, we've talked about the No-brainer bad foods, and the High-cholesterol surprises,  but there are rumors out there that all foods are not created equal and that you can actually improve your LDL by eating more of certain food items. It's true! Some of them decrease your LDL (should be <100 mg/dL), some increase your HDL (should be >35 mg/dL), and some do both.

"These foods may not be magic, but they're close to it," says Ruth Frechman, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

1. Nuts - Let's not get crazy here, only some nuts and in their healthiest form are good for you. Summarily discount anything that is honey-roasted, salted, or candied. The raw versions, and to a lesser extent, the dry roasted are your best bets. Believe it or not, the esteemed cardiac journal Circulation published a study
demonstrating that people who had two handfuls of almonds, lowered their LDL by more than 9%!
Along with almonds and walnuts, the FDA gave its qualified health claim to peanuts, hazelnuts, pecans, some pine nuts, and pistachios. Another study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, examined a standard low fat/low cholesterol diet with a diet that replaced one-fifth of the calories with pecans. When compared to the standard diet, the pecan diet lowered bad LDL cholesterol by 10.4% and decreased triglycerides by 11.1%. It also raised the levels of good HDL cholesterol by 5.6%.

2. Oatmeal - Yes, those annoying breakfast commercials are partially true. Oatmeal actually decreases the bad cholesterol (LDL) without affecting HDL. It is also a recipient of the illustrious FDA's "health claim" status, granted in 1997. Most adults should get at least 25 grams of fiber a day.There are 3 grams of soluble fiber in 1.5 cups of oatmeal -- enough to lower your cholesterol, according to the American Dietetic Association. It may be a bit much for breakfast, so just add in oatmeal or bran to dishes at other times of the day.

3. Plant sterols - "Eating sterol and stanol-containing foods is an easy way to lower your LDL cholesterol, which helps reduce the risk of heart disease," says Ruth Frechman, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). A more recent study from the University of California Davis Medical Center looked at the effects of sterol-fortified orange juice. Of 72 adults, half received regular orange juice and half the fortified OJ. After just two weeks, the people who drank the stanol-fortified juice had a 12.4% drop in their LDL levels. The results were published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. Ok, that's easy enough, but what are they? And where do I find them? Many of the butter, or better even, margarines that you smear on bread have sterols added - check the labels! Sterols and stanols are also found in some cooking oils, salad dressings, milk, yogurt, and juices.

4. Fish - Because of the high levels of the oft praised Omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke while helping to reduce symptoms of hypertension, the American Heart Association recommends eating a variety of types of fatty fish (such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel) at least twice a week. You should be grilling or baking that fish though and not eating out of a can, covered in oil, or frying it!

5. Olive Oil - The cholesterol-lowering effects of this Mediterranean Diet staple is most effective when it is the extra virgin variety, meaning the oil is less processed, thereby leaving many of the beneficial nutrients. Careful though, the caloric content is high so only use the recommended amount.

High Cholsterol Surprises

Not all of the high cholesterol foods are as obvious as milk, ice cream and egg yolks. Staying heart healthy is all about being aware of the not-so-obvious things that put you at elevated risk for coronary artery disease. So here's a few more clandestine cholesterol-containing food items:

1. Lobster - If you listen to most of my patients, they will tell you that anything that tastes good, is probably not good for you. And sure enough, this most prized crustacean packs a walloping 61 mg of cholesterol in every 3 oz bite! Add the melted butter and you might as well schedule your stress test for the following week. If you're going to splurge, avoid the butter (or most any "dipping" sauce for that matter), steam that sucker and watch your portions! By the way, processed shrimp, crab cakes and anything fried also have super high levels of cholesterol as well.

2. Chicken - But you were told it's so healthy, right? Well, it all depends on how it's prepared. With the skin on, a drumstick has more cholesterol than a cup of ice cream or a burger. Also, the dark meat, which tends to contain more fat, is higher on cholesterol. When the chicken is breaded, egg-dipped, fried, sauteed in butter/oil it becomes no more healthy than any of the other offenders above. Bake or broil it, stick to the white, skinless meat and surround it with vegetables - not batter.

3. Liver - While most of the younger readers will cringe at the thought of eating liver there are still many out there who gladly smother it in onions, spread it on a cracker or choose it in a fine dining establishment where it gains the much prettier title of foie gras. But no matter what name it is give, this organ meat is like the motherload of cholesterol, amassing more than a single day's daily allowance in one 3 oz chunk. Yikes! If you need further discouragement, just picture it when it's raw and that should do the trick.

4. Mashed potatoes - Surprise! They're not really much healthier than fries. The majority of recipes for this classic American side dish involve whole milk, lots of butter, and sour cream - the perfect storm. Throw some liver on top and you might break some kind of record.

5. Movie theatre popcorn - There seems to be a popular myth that popcorn is a healthy snack. This is very untrue unless you're popping those kernels in a pan by yourself, without oil. WebMD reports that Regal Cinema's medium-sized popcorn has a whopping 60 grams of saturated fat and 1,200 calories. Not healthy! Definitely do not add any of the liquid coronary-clogging butter and go for the small - we want you to have some enjoyment!

Stay tuned for the next installment where we discuss foods that may actually improve your cholesterol profile.