Lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease by adding these delicious foods to your diet.
However, if you’re taking statins to lower your cholesterol,they don’t mix well with grapefruit.
Oatmeal
Foods that lower cholesterol are usually high in fiber.
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You want at least 5 to 10 grams of soluble fiber and 30 grams of total fiber a day.
Just keep your serving to about a dozen nuts.
Look for the extra-virgin variety, which comes less processed and packed with more LDL-lowering antioxidants, says Peeke.
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Not sure which fish to choose at the seafood counter?
Plant Sterols and Plant Stanols
Bring on the peanut butter!
Some margarines, orange juices, and yogurt drinks come fortified with plant stanols and sterols.
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These plant-based chemicals are found naturally in foods and block cholesterol absorption in the gut.
Have an ounce of dark chocolate every day, choosing one that is at least 70 percent cacao.
Artichokes
Artichokes have one of the highest levels of soluble fiber among all veggie varieties.
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Okra is high in fiber and protein, and low in fat.
She recommends one cup of okra, which contains about 50 to 70 mg of magnesium.
Flaxseed
Flaxseeds may be small, but they’re one of the mightiest foods that lower cholesterol.
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Sprinkle a tablespoon onto cereal or mix it into yogurt or smoothies for fiber and healthy fats.
Edamame also contains two forms of polyunsaturated fats, omega-3s and omega-6s.
One cup of whole edamame will do the trick.
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Garlic
Last up on the list of foods that lower cholesterol: Garlic.
As a bonus, Weiler says garlic has also been known tolower blood pressure.
She recommends 1 gram per day, or about 1/5 of a clove.
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