Some Foods Lower Cholesterol

If you have high cholesterol or are worried that you might not be eating a balanced diet, you might like to know that there are cholesterol lowering foods. If you change your lifestyle and eat better, you will improve your health and feel better. Raw fruits and vegetables have the most impact on improving health, next are high fiber foods, fish oils and garlic. This article will give some food suggestions to help improve your diet for a lower cholesterol level and better health.

Raw Fruits and Vegetables

Raw Fruits and Vegetables have fiber, but they also have much more. Berries, oranges, apples, melons, and grapefruit are rich in fiber. Carrots, cabbage, beets, spinach,, broccoli and peas are great sources of fiber. Raw fruits and vegetables are also loaded with vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, and other health factors that are too numerous to mentions. Some people claim extraordinary health benefits from eating just raw fruits and vegetables. Some cancer cures and other healing methods use raw fruits and vegetables.

Other Fiber Sources

Other foods rich in fiber act as cholesterol lowering foods. Fiber is not as easily digested as other types of components, so fiber can lower cholesterol levels. We've already mentioned that berries, oranges, apples, melons, carrots, cabbage, beets, spinach,, broccoli and peas are fantastic sources of fiber. Oats have a soluble fiber call Glucan that lowers cholesterol a lot. Whole grains lower cholesterol levels better because processed grains like white bread and other white flour products have their fiber content removed.

Fish

Fish has omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids which lower the possibilities of getting blood clots. Fish is a great cholesterol lowering food because of the quality of the oils. Becasue fish oils help prevent blood clotting, they help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Soy products

Soy protein or isoflavones act to lower lowering. Soy lecithin especially helps reduce cholesterol by homogenizing it in the blood. Some experts recommend one to two ounces (or25 grams) of soy, and claim it may lower your bad cholesterol level by around 8% -10%. If your cholesterol level is about 260-300 or higher, changing your diet could lower your cholesterol by 15-20%. Some Soy products include: soybeans, soy milk, soy flour and tofu. You might enjoy soy drinks and protein bars with 10 to 20 grams of soy protein.

Garlic

Studies have shown garlic lowers cholesterol. Many people buy odorless coated garlic tablets, because you get the same effect without the smell. It's the small intestine that absorbs the garlic, so coatings help the tablet pass through the stomach intact to the small intestine.

More and more people are looking at foods that lower cholesterol to eat a better diet and lower their cholesterol levels. Exercise helps a lot, but you should do both exercise and good diet. If you exercise and eat raw fruits and vegetables, lecithin and vitamin E, high fiber foods, you may not end up needing cholesterol lowering drugs. It's always best to consult with your physician if you are on medication. Always check to see how much exercise you can do, and if there are any foods you need to avoid with your medication. Once you start exercising more and eating better, periodically check with your physician to see if there is any improvement.

This article was written by Jim Krage of Healing Energy News .com.