10 Natural Ways to Lower
Your Cholesterol Levels
Cholesterol is made in your liver and has many important functions. For
example, it helps keep the walls of your cells flexible and is needed to make
several hormones.
However, like anything in the body, too much cholesterol or cholesterol in the
wrong places creates problems.
Like fat, cholesterol does not dissolve in water. Instead, its transport in the
body depends on molecules called lipoproteins, which carry cholesterol, fat
and fat-soluble vitamins in the blood.
Different kinds of lipoproteins have different effects on health. For example,
high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) result in cholesterol deposits in
blood vessel walls, which can lead to clogged arteries, strokes, heart attacks
and kidney failure (1Trusted Source).
In contrast, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) helps carry cholesterol away from
vessel walls and helps prevent these diseases (2Trusted Source).
This article will review 10 natural ways to increase the “good” HDL cholesterol
and lower the “bad” LDL cholesterol.
The Link Between Dietary and Blood
Cholesterol
The liver produces as much cholesterol as the body needs. It packages
cholesterol with fat in very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL).
As VLDL delivers fat to cells throughout the body, it changes into the more
dense LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, which carries cholesterol wherever it is
needed.
The liver also releases high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which carries unused
cholesterol back to the liver. This process is called reverse cholesterol
transport, and protects against clogged arteries and other types of heart
disease.
Some lipoproteins, especially LDL and VLDL, are prone to damage by free
radicals in a process called oxidation. Oxidized LDL and VLDL are even more
harmful to heart health (3).
Although food companies often advertise products as low in cholesterol,
dietary cholesterol actually only has a small influence on the amount of
cholesterol in the body.
This is because the liver changes the amount of cholesterol it makes
depending on how much you eat. When your body absorbs more cholesterol
from your diet, it makes less in the liver.
For example, a study randomly assigned 45 adults to eat more cholesterol in
the form of two eggs daily. In the end, those eating more cholesterol did not
have higher total cholesterol levels or changes in lipoproteins, compared to
those eating less cholesterol (4Trusted Source).
While dietary cholesterol has little influence on cholesterol levels, other foods
in your diet can worsen them, as can family history, smoking and a sedentary
lifestyle.
Likewise, several other lifestyle choices can help increase the beneficial HDL
and decrease the harmful LDL. Below are 10 natural ways to improve your
cholesterol levels.
1. Focus on Monounsaturated Fats
As opposed to saturated fats, unsaturated fats have at least one double
chemical bond that changes the way they are used in the body.
Monounsaturated fats have only one double bond.
Although some recommend a low-fat diet for weight loss, a study of 10 men
found a 6-week, low-fat diet reduced levels of harmful LDL, but also reduced
beneficial HDL (5Trusted Source).
In contrast, a diet high in monounsaturated fats reduced harmful LDL, but also
protected higher levels of healthy HDL.
A study of 24 adults with high blood cholesterol came to the same conclusion,
where eating a diet high in monounsaturated fat increased beneficial HDL by
12%, compared to a diet low in saturated fat (6Trusted Source).
Monounsaturated fats may also reduce the oxidation of lipoproteins, which
contributes to clogged arteries. A study of 26 people found that replacing
polyunsaturated fats with monounsaturated fats in the diet reduced the
oxidation of fats and cholesterol (7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source).
Overall, monounsaturated fats are healthy because they decrease harmful
LDL cholesterol, increase good HDL cholesterol and reduce harmful oxidation
(9Trusted Source).
Here are a few great sources of monounsaturated fats. Some are also good
sources of polyunsaturated fat:
Olives and
olive oil
Canola oil
Tree nuts, such as almonds, walnuts,
pecans, hazelnuts and cashews
Avocados
You can find olive oil and canola oil online.
