Products and services. Top 5 lifestyle changes to improve your cholesterol Lifestyle changes can help improve your cholesterol — and boost the cholesterol-lowering power of medications. By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for subscribing! Sorry something went wrong with your subscription Please, try again in a couple of minutes Retry.

Show references Your guide to lowering your cholesterol with TLC. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. pdf Accessed May 22, Kumar P, et al. Lipid and metabolic disorders. In: Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine. Philadelphia, Pa. Accessed May 22, Tangney CC, et al.

Lipid lowering with diet or dietary supplements. Catapano AL, et al. Department of Health and Human Services and U.

Department of Agriculture. Final determination regarding partially hydrogenated oils removing trans fat. Food and Drug Administration. Accessed June 28, Cooking to lower cholesterol. American Heart Association.

Fekete AA, et al. Whey protein lowers blood pressure and improves endothelial function and lipid biomarkers in adults with prehypertension and mild hypertensions: Results from the chronic Whey2Go randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Douglas PS. Exercise and fitness in the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Accessed May 30, Hyperlipidemia adult. Rochester, Minn. Braun LT, et al. Effects of exercise on lipoproteins and hemostatic factors. Smoke-free living: Benefits and milestones. Accessed May , Cardiovascular benefits and risks of moderate alcohol consumption.

Accessed May 31, Bonow RO, et al. Risk markers and the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. In: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine.

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Cholesterol test kits: Are they accurate? Cholesterol: Top foods to improve your numbers Cholesterol-lowering supplements may be helpful Coconut oil: Can it cure hypothyroidism? Discuss your other medical conditions and any medicines you are taking, and bring a list of questions to your appointments.

You can use this list of questions from the Million Hearts ® The Scoop on Statins webpage. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to search. Español Other Languages. Prevent High Cholesterol. Minus Related Pages.

Make healthy eating choices Your body makes all of the cholesterol it needs, so you do not need to obtain cholesterol through foods. What you can do to help prevent cholesterol: Limit foods high in saturated fat. Saturated fats come from animal products such as cheese, fatty meats, and dairy desserts and tropical oils such as palm oil.

Foods that are higher in saturated fat may be high in cholesterol. Choose foods that are low in saturated fat, trans fat, sodium salt , and added sugars. These foods include lean meats; seafood; fat-free or low-fat milk, cheese, and yogurt; whole grains; and fruits and vegetables.

One serving of a breakfast cereal with oatmeal or oat bran provides 3 to 4 grams of fiber. If you add fruit, such as a banana or berries, you'll get even more fiber.

Fatty fish has high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which can reduce your triglycerides — a type of fat found in blood.

These acids also may help lower your blood pressure and risk of developing blood clots. In people who have already had heart attacks, omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of sudden death. Omega-3 fatty acids don't affect LDL cholesterol levels but may help lower triglycerides and increase HDL , the good cholesterol.

But because of those acids' other heart benefits, the American Heart Association recommends eating at least two servings of fish a week. Baking or grilling the fish avoids adding unhealthy fats. Omega-3 and fish oil supplements are available. Talk to your doctor before taking any supplements.

Almonds and other tree nuts can improve blood cholesterol. Studies have shown that walnuts, which have omega-3 fats, may help protect the heart and lower the risk of heart attack for people who already have heart disease. All nuts are high in calories, so a handful added to a salad or eaten as a snack will do.

Avocados are a good source of nutrients as well as monounsaturated fatty acids MUFAs. Research suggests that the fiber from avocados can improve HDL cholesterol levels and the quality of LDL cholesterol.

Adding two servings of avocado per week to a heart-healthy diet can lower your risk of heart disease. People tend to think of avocados in guacamole, which often is eaten with high-fat corn chips.

Try adding avocado slices to salads and sandwiches or eating them as a side dish. Also try guacamole with raw cut vegetables, such as cucumber slices. Replacing saturated fats, such as those found in meats, with MUFAs are part of what makes the Mediterranean diet heart healthy.

Try using olive oil in place of other fats in your diet. You can saute vegetables in olive oil, add it to a marinade or mix it with vinegar as a salad dressing. You can also use olive oil as a substitute for butter when basting meat or as a dip for bread. Extra virgin olive oil also reduces the risk of heart attacks.

Sterols and stanols are substances found in plants that help block the absorption of cholesterol. Foods that have been fortified with sterols or stanols are available. Margarines and orange juice with added plant sterols can help lower LDL cholesterol.

It's not clear whether food with plant sterols or stanols lowers your risk of heart attack or stroke — although experts assume that foods that lower cholesterol do cut the risk. Plant sterols or stanols don't appear to affect levels of triglycerides or of high-density lipoprotein HDL cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol.

Whey protein, which is found in dairy products, may account for many of the health benefits attributed to dairy. Studies have shown that whey protein given as a supplement lowers both LDL and total cholesterol as well as blood pressure.

You can find whey protein powders in health food stores and some grocery stores. Getting the full benefit of these foods requires other changes to your diet and lifestyle.

One of the most helpful changes is limiting the saturated and trans fats you eat. Saturated fats — such as those in meat, butter, cheese and other full-fat dairy products — raise your total cholesterol. Trans fats, sometimes listed on food labels as "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil," are often used in margarines and store-bought cookies, crackers and cakes.

Trans fats raise overall cholesterol levels. The Food and Drug Administration banned the use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in processed foods sold after January 1, There is a problem with information submitted for this request.

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A low-cholesterol food list is rich in soluble fiber fiber that can dissolve into water. Soluble fiber grabs cholesterol in your gut — before it gets into your bloodstream — and helps lower bad LDL cholesterol levels.

Try oatmeal and whole grain toast for breakfast, curried lentils for lunch, or turkey chili with kidney beans for dinner. Generally, the more processed a grain or bean, the less likely it is to have healthy benefits and nutritional value.

Whenever you can, try to stock up on fresh ingredients. But common snack foods like chips, microwavable popcorn, cookies, pastries or crackers are high in trans and saturated fats. On the other hand, snacking on fruits, vegetables and nuts not only helps you avoid bad fats, but also helps you get good fats and fiber.

Raw nuts are high in unsaturated fats — which are the best kind of fats. Nuts are great for a heart-healthy diet because they raise your good HDL cholesterol levels and lower your bad LDL cholesterol levels.

Other examples of foods that are high in unsaturated fat include avocados and olives. Nuts — along with many fruits and veggies — can also be a great source of soluble fiber. Adding as many of these foods as you can to your diet can be a double-dose of cholesterol-reducing impact.

As with meats and whole grains, remember that more processing means less benefit. When it comes to dairy, this is a big area where picking a healthier alternative can be an easy win. For items like cheese, milk, cream and yogurt, use low-fat dairy products instead of the regular versions.

Who knows? It could become your next craving. Making these changes is helpful because full-fat dairy products contain saturated fat as well as cholesterol. Just as you can change what you buy in the grocery store, you can also choose healthier ways to make your food that help lower your cholesterol naturally.

For example:. When you do need to add fat for cooking, baking or pan frying, use healthy oils instead of solid fats, like butter, margarine, shortening and lard. Solid fats are high in saturated fats, but oils are high in unsaturated fats, which — remember — are better for you.

The American Heart Association AHA recommends using oils that have less than 4 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon and no trans fats. Try using olive oil, sunflower oil or grapeseed oil in place of a solid fat. You might also bring out some new, surprising, subtle flavors, too.

Plus, many vegetarian meals are just as flavorful and filling as their meaty cousins. For dessert, add some fresh blueberries, strawberries and oats to low-fat vanilla yogurt. Foods that are high in soluble fibre include:.

Plant sterols are compounds that can lower LDL cholesterol. They occur naturally in plants, fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains and are added to some packaged foods, such as table spreads, cereals, low-fat yoghurt and low-fat milk.

Plant sterols that occur naturally in foods are only present in small amounts, compared with plant sterols that are added to foods. Adding plant sterol-enriched foods to your diet is the most effective dietary change you can make to reduce your LDL cholesterol.

Vigorous aerobic exercise is best. Moderate-intensity exercise is a level that increases your heart rate and breathing but allows you to keep talking.

Vigorous intensity exercise makes your heart rate higher and makes you breathe more heavily. Resistance training using weights, resistance bands or your own body weight and muscle-toning exercises can increase HDL cholesterol. Aim to do this twice a week. If you are obese or overweight, losing weight can help reduce your levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, while increasing your levels of HDL cholesterol.

Alcohol can increase your levels of triglycerides. Along with LDL cholesterol, high levels of triglycerides raise your risk of heart disease. Excess alcohol consumption also increases blood pressure and can lead to obesity due to the kilojoules in alcohol — both additional risk factors for heart disease.

To reduce the risk of heart disease and other risks from alcohol, limit your intake to no more than 10 standard drinks per week and no more than 4 drinks per day. Smoking reduces HDL cholesterol and speeds up the rate at which fatty plaques form in the walls of your arteries.

It also makes your blood more likely to clot. These factors increase your risk of heart attack and stroke. Stopping smoking is one of the best ways to improve your heart and blood vessel health. Your doctor can help you quit smoking.

You can also call the Quitline on 13 to talk to a counsellor, or use its online chat service. Aboriginal Quitline can also support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who smoke.

As well as making lifestyle changes, some people will need to take cholesterol-lowering medicines to reduce their risk of heart and blood vessel disease, known as cardiovascular disease.

The medicines most commonly used are called statins. Your doctor will consider all your risk factors for cardiovascular disease before suggesting medication — not just your cholesterol and lipid results. Statins work by slowing the amount of cholesterol made in your liver.

In response, your liver uses the cholesterol already in your blood to make up for the deficit. This lowers the level of LDL cholesterol in your blood. Contact your doctor if your medicines are causing any side effects. An accredited practising dietitian can design a personalised eating plan for you to lower your cholesterol.

Find one at Dietitians Australia. Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content. Understanding what blood cholesterol is and how to control it can help you reduce your risk of heart disease and other serious conditions. Read more on Heart Foundation website.

Abnormally high cholesterol levels may not give you any symptoms, so a blood test is the best way to check whether you have high cholesterol. Read more on myDr website. The HDL cholesterol test measures the amount of cholesterol carried by HDL high density lipoprotein particles in the blood.

Too much cholesterol in the blo. Read more on Pathology Tests Explained website. High cholesterol High cholesterol, also known as hyperlipidemia or dyslipidemia, contributes to blood vessel disease, which often leads to stroke. Read more on Stroke Foundation website.

Low-density lipoprotein LDL is a type of lipoprotein that carries cholesterol in the blood. The test for LDL cholesterol LDL-C measures the amount of cho.

It recommends that you eat and drink only enough calories to stay at a healthy weight and avoid weight gain. It encourages you to choose a variety of nutritious foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats.

Examples of eating plans that can lower your cholesterol include the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet and the DASH eating plan. Weight Management. If you are overweight, losing weight can help lower your LDL bad cholesterol. This is especially important for people with metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors that includes high triglyceride levels, low HDL good cholesterol levels, and being overweight with a large waist measurement more than 40 inches for men and more than 35 inches for women.

Physical Activity. Everyone should get regular physical activity 30 minutes on most, if not all, days. Managing stress. Research has shown that chronic stress can sometimes raise your LDL cholesterol and lower your HDL cholesterol. Quitting smoking. Quitting smoking can raise your HDL cholesterol.

Since HDL helps to remove LDL cholesterol from your arteries, having more HDL can help to lower your LDL cholesterol. Medicines to lower cholesterol For some people, making lifestyle changes alone does not their lower cholesterol enough.

Lipoprotein apheresis to lower cholesterol Familial hypercholesterolemia FH is an inherited form of high cholesterol. Supplements to lower cholesterol Some companies sell supplements that they say can lower cholesterol.

Learn More. Being active when you have heart disease Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Cholesterol - what to ask your doctor Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Cholesterol and lifestyle Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Cholesterol Levels National Library of Medicine Also in Spanish Give your heart a workout Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Healthy habits for weight loss Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Heart disease - risk factors Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish How to take statins Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Managing your weight with healthy eating Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Tips on how to quit smoking Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish.

Tips to Reduce Salt and Sodium National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - PDF. Test Your Knowledge. Test Your Knowledge About Healthy Eating Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish.

Add a banana or some strawberries for another half-gram. Current nutrition guidelines recommend getting 20 to 35 grams of fiber a day, with at least 5 to 10 grams coming from soluble fiber. The average American gets about half that amount. Barley and other whole grains.

Like oats and oat bran, barley and other whole grains can help lower the risk of heart disease, mainly via the soluble fiber they deliver. Beans are especially rich in soluble fiber.

They also take a while for the body to digest, meaning you feel full for longer after a meal. That's one reason beans are a useful food for folks trying to lose weight. With so many choices — from navy and kidney beans to lentils, garbanzos, black-eyed peas, and beyond — and so many ways to prepare them, beans are a very versatile food.

Eggplant and okra. These two low-calorie vegetables are good sources of soluble fiber. A bushel of studies shows that eating almonds, walnuts, peanuts, and other nuts is good for the heart. Nuts have additional nutrients that protect the heart in other ways.

Vegetable oils. Using liquid vegetable oils such as canola, sunflower, safflower, and others in place of butter, lard, or shortening when cooking or at the table helps lower LDL.

Apples, grapes, strawberries, citrus fruits. These fruits are rich in pectin, a type of soluble fiber that lowers LDL. It encourages you to choose a variety of nutritious foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats. Examples of eating plans that can lower your cholesterol include the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet and the DASH eating plan.

Weight Management. If you are overweight, losing weight can help lower your LDL bad cholesterol. This is especially important for people with metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors that includes high triglyceride levels, low HDL good cholesterol levels, and being overweight with a large waist measurement more than 40 inches for men and more than 35 inches for women.

Physical Activity. Everyone should get regular physical activity 30 minutes on most, if not all, days. Managing stress. Research has shown that chronic stress can sometimes raise your LDL cholesterol and lower your HDL cholesterol.

Quitting smoking. Quitting smoking can raise your HDL cholesterol. Since HDL helps to remove LDL cholesterol from your arteries, having more HDL can help to lower your LDL cholesterol.

Medicines to lower cholesterol For some people, making lifestyle changes alone does not their lower cholesterol enough. Lipoprotein apheresis to lower cholesterol Familial hypercholesterolemia FH is an inherited form of high cholesterol.

Supplements to lower cholesterol Some companies sell supplements that they say can lower cholesterol. Learn More. Being active when you have heart disease Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Cholesterol - what to ask your doctor Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Cholesterol and lifestyle Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Cholesterol Levels National Library of Medicine Also in Spanish Give your heart a workout Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Healthy habits for weight loss Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Heart disease - risk factors Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish How to take statins Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Managing your weight with healthy eating Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish Tips on how to quit smoking Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish.

Tips to Reduce Salt and Sodium National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - PDF. Test Your Knowledge. Test Your Knowledge About Healthy Eating Medical Encyclopedia Also in Spanish.

Clinical Trials. Multiple types of supplements show promise for managing cholesterol. Plant stanols and sterols are plant versions of cholesterol. According to a research review, clinical studies show that taking 1. Small amounts of plant stanols and sterols are naturally found in vegetable oils and are added to certain oils and butter substitutes.

You may also consider taking certain types of supplements. But speak with a healthcare professional before starting or changing your supplement regimen. Although food companies often advertise products as being low in cholesterol, research from shows that dietary cholesterol has only a small influence on the amount of cholesterol in your body.

That said, some foods high in soluble fibers, omega-3 fatty acids, or monounsaturated fats may help lower cholesterol, including:. Typically, there are no symptoms of high cholesterol. However, signs or symptoms of high cholesterol may include:. Eating foods with cholesterol may not raise your blood cholesterol levels.

Eggs may be part of a healthy, balanced diet. However, if you are at risk for cardiovascular disease, you may want to limit the number of eggs you eat each week. Exercise and weight loss can also help.

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This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts. Our team of licensed nutritionists and dietitians strive to be objective, unbiased, honest and to present both sides of the argument.

This article contains scientific references. The numbers in the parentheses 1, 2, 3 are clickable links to peer-reviewed scientific papers. Men and women may experience different symptoms of a heart attack.

Coronary heart disease CHD is the leading cause of death among adults in the United States. Learn about the causes and risks factors of CHD. Follow these tips to prevent heart disease. Discover 28 ways to power up, wind down, and have fun — all in the name of a healthy heart. Work these heart-healthy habits into your lifestyle.

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