Drop your cholesterol levels

ortunately, the foods you eat, along with your other healthy daily habits, can lower your cholesterol level. Here are Crandall’s top 10 tips.

1. Lose weight. Losing just five percent to 10 percent of your body weight will help improve your cholesterol level.
2. Exercise one hour daily. Even a brisk one-hour walk will help lower cholesterol, high blood pressure, and build up your heart’s collateral blood flow.
3. Eat a heart healthy diet. Eat meals comprised largely of fresh vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, with moderate amounts of protein, primarily from fish or chicken.
4. Start your day with oatmeal. Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which turns into a gel in the body, which helps you feel full and also interferes with the digestion of cholesterol, whisking it our of your body. Oat bran and cold oat cereals, like Cheerios, do this as well.
5. Bulk up on beans.  A recent study found that eating one serving of high-fiber beans (or peas, chickpeas or lentils) translated into a five-point dip in LDL “bad” cholesterol.  They also are low on the glycemic scale, so they won’t hike blood sugar, and can be used instead of animal protein to induce a feeling of fullness after eating.
6. Eat an apple a day. Like beans and oatmeal, apples are rich in soluble fiber, which means they help reduce cholesterol. A recent study by University of Illinois researchers also found that apples reduce inflammation associated with heart disease, and may enhance the immune system as well.
7. Practice stress reduction. When we’re under stress, our bodies respond by pumping up hormones, including cortisol, the so-called “stress” hormone. Research finds that, over the long term, too much cortisol in our blood is associated with higher cholesterol levels.
8. Sleep more. Sleep deprivation hikes cholesterol levels. It can also raise blood pressure, and studies find people tend to compensate for their sleep loss by eating, particularly junk food.  Aim for 8-10 hours a night.
9. Dust your food with cinnamon. In one study, Pakistani researchers found that about ½ tablespoon of cinnamon daily cut total cholesterol 26 percent.  Cinnamon is a wonderful spice, and can give a double boost of cholesterol-lowering power when sprinkled on other beneficial foods, like oatmeal and apples.
10. Eat a handful of almonds daily. All tree nuts help reduce LDL cholesterol, but almonds may be especially beneficial. A study published last August found that these nuts might boost levels of HDL-cholesterol, the so-called “good” cholesterol, while improving the way that the body eliminates blood fats from the body.

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