High Cholesterol Diet Guidelines

What you can do to lower your cholesterol for better heart health.

READER'S COMMENT:

"you may want to explain the math further on the saturated fat section. you have it listed as 7% of 2000 calorie diet which comes to 140 calories this is 15.5 grams by dividing by 9 (9 calories for each gram of fat) "

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High Cholesterol Center

Eat more fiber

Increasing your total daily fiber intake is always a good idea, but when it comes to lowering cholesterol soluble fiber really counts: studies show that increasing soluble fiber by as little as 5 to 10 grams per day can reduce LDL cholesterol by 3 to 5 percent. How? Soluble fiber is gel-like when it dissolves in the intestines and binds some of the dietary cholesterol in the gut, making it unavailable for absorption.

Soluble fiber is found in foods such as oatmeal, kidney beans, Brussels sprouts, apples, pears, barley and prunes. Eating 1½ cups of cooked oatmeal provides 3 grams of soluble fiber.

Next: Consider Adding Plant Sterols to Your Diet »