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. Foods fortified with sterols and stanols. Sterols and stanols extracted from plants gum up the body's ability to absorb cholesterol from food.

Companies are adding them to foods ranging from margarine and granola bars to orange juice and chocolate.

They're also available as supplements. Eating soybeans and foods made from them, like tofu and soy milk, was once touted as a powerful way to lower cholesterol. Fatty fish. Eating fish two or three times a week can lower LDL in two ways: by replacing meat, which has LDL-boosting saturated fats, and by delivering LDL-lowering omega-3 fats.

Omega-3s reduce triglycerides in the bloodstream and also protect the heart by helping prevent the onset of abnormal heart rhythms. Fiber supplements. Supplements offer the least appealing way to get soluble fiber. Two teaspoons a day of psyllium, which is found in Metamucil and other bulk-forming laxatives, provide about 4 grams of soluble fiber.

When it comes to investing money, experts recommend creating a portfolio of diverse investments instead of putting all your eggs in one basket. The same holds true for eating your way to lower cholesterol.

Adding several foods to lower cholesterol in different ways should work better than focusing on one or two. A largely vegetarian "dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods" substantially lowers LDL, triglycerides, and blood pressure.

The key dietary components are plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains instead of highly refined ones, and protein mostly from plants. Add margarine enriched with plant sterols; oats, barley, psyllium, okra, and eggplant, all rich in soluble fiber; soy protein; and whole almonds.

Your doctor can then assess your risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 5 years. Too much LDL bad cholesterol in the blood can increase your risk of heart and blood vessel disease cardiovascular disease.

The excess LDL cholesterol leads to fatty deposits called plaque forming in the artery walls. Over time, the plaque causes narrowing and hardening of the arteries known as atherosclerosis.

A high level of HDL cholesterol is good because HDL cholesterol helps remove other forms of cholesterol from the blood, taking them back to the liver — where they're removed from the blood and passed out of the body.

ARE YOU AT RISK? Use the healthdirect Risk Checker to find out. You can lower your cholesterol levels by making lifestyle changes, and through taking medicines if that's what your doctor advises. Some people will only need to improve their lifestyle and diet to get their cholesterol to a safe level.

Others may need to take cholesterol-lowering medicines, as well. A diet high in these fats can raise levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood. Saturated fat is usually solid at room temperature. Read more about saturated fat-rich foods here. Trans fats or, trans fatty acids are found in store-bought baked goods, snack foods and deep-fried foods.

There is strong evidence that trans fats increase levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood, while decreasing levels of HDL good cholesterol. Foods that contain cholesterol include liver, pate, kidneys, prawns and egg yolks.

Foods that contain saturated fats have a greater effect on blood cholesterol levels than foods that contain dietary cholesterol. Replacing foods that contain mainly saturated fats with foods that contain unsaturated fats — such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats — will help reduce your cholesterol level.

Soluble fibre can reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your blood and it slows down digestion, making you feel fuller for longer.

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.

Familial hypercholesterolaemia is an inherited condition characterised by higher than normal levels of blood cholesterol. Read more on Better Health Channel website. Replacing foods that contain saturated fats with foods that contain polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats will help to lower your cholesterol.