Start your day with a bowl of oatmeal and oat bran. It contains soluble fibre which has been shown to lower the LDLs while raising the HDLs, which is exactly what you need to do to get your cholesterol levels under control. Add a banana to this, and you will add another 4 grams of fibre to your diet, which is good for you too.
Dried beans, lentils and peas also contain this, as do apples, pears and barley, so eating any or all of these foods as many times each week as possible will help your health. Of course, you need to reduce some foods, typically the red meats, which contain high levels of cholesterol and unsuitable fats too. Now, you may find like many others that the legumes cause a huge volume of gas in your stomach, but there is a way that you can reduce this, just click the link reduce gas in legumes to find out more. Another benefit of having stocks of legumes in the cupboards is that it is easy to through a tasty healthy meal together just from the items you are storing. Legumes are inexpensive, and when added to whole brown rice can easily make a nutritious meal inexpensively.
It is recommended that you eat fish two or three times each week, especially salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel and trout, as these contain protein, as well as omega 3 fatty acids which are good for you and recommended as part of a healthy diet. Fish oil supplements can be used if you really hate eating fish, but you will miss out on some of the other benefits obtained by eating the actual fish.
Soy products can help to provide your body with the protein it needs to keep internal organs, bones, muscles, tendons as well as hair and blood healthy, and because soy products come from soybeans a plant, they do not have cholesterol or other unsuitable fats in them.
Nuts are a good food to snack on, provided you don’t eat too many each day. Walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, hazelnuts and pecans are recommended, but try only to eat about an ounce and a half of these each day, otherwise you will discover that you are gaining weight from eating too many calories contained in the nuts.
A diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, along with a reduction in red meats especially, but definitely a reduction in animal fat consumption is highly recommended, and with the low cholesterol foods noted above, should help you start reducing your blood cholesterol, and lower your risk for heart disease.