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April 15, You can begin to reduce your "bad" LDL cholesterol naturally by making a few simple changes in your diet. Weed out trans fats and saturated fats There is so much evidence implicating trans fats in heart disease.

Eat more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats Both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids help lower LDL.

Go crazy with colorful fruits and vegetables Fruits and vegetables have scads of ingredients that lower cholesterol—including fiber, cholesterol-blocking molecules called sterols and stanols, and eye-appealing pigments.

gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly.

But if you have too much in your blood, it can stick to the walls of your arteries and narrow or even block them. This puts you at risk for coronary artery disease and other heart diseases.

Cholesterol travels through the blood on proteins called lipoproteins. One type, LDL , is sometimes called the "bad" cholesterol. A high LDL level leads to a buildup of cholesterol in your arteries.

Another type, HDL , is sometimes called the "good" cholesterol. It carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver. Then your liver removes the cholesterol from your body. The treatments for high cholesterol are heart-healthy lifestyle changes and medicines.

The lifestyle changes include healthy eating, weight management, and regular physical activity. Heart-healthy lifestyle changes include a diet to lower your cholesterol. The DASH eating plan is one example. Another is the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet, which recommends that you. Choose healthier fats.

You should limit both total fat and saturated fat. Depending upon how many calories you eat per day, here are the maximum amounts of fats that you should eat:. Saturated fat is a bad fat because it raises your LDL bad cholesterol level more than anything else in your diet.

It is found in some meats, dairy products, chocolate, baked goods, and deep-fried and processed foods. Trans fat is another bad fat; it can raise your LDL and lower you HDL good cholesterol.

Trans fat is mostly in foods made with hydrogenated oils and fats, such as stick margarine, crackers, and french fries. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic Press.

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Request Appointment. Top 5 lifestyle changes to improve your cholesterol. Products and services. Top 5 lifestyle changes to improve your cholesterol Lifestyle changes can help improve your cholesterol — and boost the cholesterol-lowering power of medications.

By Mayo Clinic Staff. Thank you for subscribing! Sorry something went wrong with your subscription Please, try again in a couple of minutes Retry. Show references Your guide to lowering your cholesterol with TLC.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. pdf Accessed May 22, Kumar P, et al. Lipid and metabolic disorders. In: Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine.

Philadelphia, Pa. Accessed May 22, Tangney CC, et al. Lipid lowering with diet or dietary supplements. Catapano AL, et al. Department of Health and Human Services and U. Department of Agriculture. Final determination regarding partially hydrogenated oils removing trans fat.

Food and Drug Administration. Accessed June 28, Cooking to lower cholesterol. American Heart Association. Fekete AA, et al. Whey protein lowers blood pressure and improves endothelial function and lipid biomarkers in adults with prehypertension and mild hypertensions: Results from the chronic Whey2Go randomized controlled trial.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Douglas PS. Exercise and fitness in the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Accessed May 30, Hyperlipidemia adult. Rochester, Minn. Braun LT, et al. Effects of exercise on lipoproteins and hemostatic factors. Smoke-free living: Benefits and milestones.

Accessed May , Cardiovascular benefits and risks of moderate alcohol consumption. Accessed May 31, Bonow RO, et al. Risk markers and the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

But common snack foods like chips, microwavable popcorn, cookies, pastries or crackers are high in trans and saturated fats. On the other hand, snacking on fruits, vegetables and nuts not only helps you avoid bad fats, but also helps you get good fats and fiber.

Raw nuts are high in unsaturated fats — which are the best kind of fats. Nuts are great for a heart-healthy diet because they raise your good HDL cholesterol levels and lower your bad LDL cholesterol levels.

Other examples of foods that are high in unsaturated fat include avocados and olives. Nuts — along with many fruits and veggies — can also be a great source of soluble fiber.

Adding as many of these foods as you can to your diet can be a double-dose of cholesterol-reducing impact. As with meats and whole grains, remember that more processing means less benefit.

When it comes to dairy, this is a big area where picking a healthier alternative can be an easy win. For items like cheese, milk, cream and yogurt, use low-fat dairy products instead of the regular versions. Who knows?

It could become your next craving. Making these changes is helpful because full-fat dairy products contain saturated fat as well as cholesterol. Just as you can change what you buy in the grocery store, you can also choose healthier ways to make your food that help lower your cholesterol naturally.

For example:. When you do need to add fat for cooking, baking or pan frying, use healthy oils instead of solid fats, like butter, margarine, shortening and lard.

Solid fats are high in saturated fats, but oils are high in unsaturated fats, which — remember — are better for you. The American Heart Association AHA recommends using oils that have less than 4 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon and no trans fats. Try using olive oil, sunflower oil or grapeseed oil in place of a solid fat.

You might also bring out some new, surprising, subtle flavors, too. Plus, many vegetarian meals are just as flavorful and filling as their meaty cousins. For dessert, add some fresh blueberries, strawberries and oats to low-fat vanilla yogurt.

The key here is to build up a routine, like making every Tuesday night vegetarian night. Once that becomes the norm, try expanding to different nights, or add a weekly vegetarian lunch, too. Over time, these modifications can really pay off.

This includes raising good HDL cholesterol, managing blood pressure levels and many other heart-healthy benefits. Do I need to start running every day? Do I need to join a gym or buy a bunch of home fitness equipment? If you want to, go ahead! Ideally, you want to aim for at least 2. You can break that up however you like.

You might focus on doing something every day, or you could dedicate yourself to just a few days per week. The key is to just get started.

For example, do you usually take the elevator? Take the stairs instead. Do you walk your dog every day? Go a little farther than usual or walk at a faster pace.

Need to go shopping? Park farther away than you normally do. Catching up on your favorite TV series? Also look for chances to bring motion into your daily life, such as walking while you talk on the phone. This means limiting certain foods while prioritizing others, rather than trying to hit narrow targets.

It should be a meaningful and purposeful change you can extend throughout your life. In this spirit, he says one of the most important changes you can make is to pack your meals with lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. Many of the most effective and evidence-backed cholesterol-lowering eating plans—like the Mediterranean diet —prioritize these foods, he says.

Meanwhile, reducing your intake of animal products—especially red meat and processed dairy foods—is a move that research has repeatedly tied to cholesterol improvements. She mentions red meat, butter, and dairy as foods people should aim to cut down on—not eliminate necessarily, but reduce—if they want to improve their cholesterol.

Many Americans consume saturated fats , from eggs and dairy products to red meat, with almost every meal. This sort of immoderation is a problem. Some experts have argued that saturated fats get blamed for health problems that are likely caused by processed meats, refined carbohydrates like those found in sugary or packaged foods , and the trans fats in fast foods and some packaged snacks.

On the other hand, experts generally agree that trading saturated fats for some of the healthy foods mentioned above—such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts—is a highly effective way to improve your cholesterol scores and heart health. She adds that protein-rich soy-based products—from tofu to soy milks and yogurts—may also be good substitutes for meat, butter, milk, and other conventional saturated fat sources.

This is unfortunate because research stretching back several decades has linked soy to improved heart health and lower blood cholesterol levels. Exchanging foods with hooves for foods with feathers or flippers is another good idea.

In particular, fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and herring are heart-healthy choices. On the other hand, experts say fish oil—a popular health supplement—is not a helpful addition to your regimen. She says that some prescription fish oil supplements can help lower triglycerides, so doctors sometimes recommend them.

But commercial fish oil supplements have been linked to an increased risk for abnormal heart rhythms and should be avoided. Last but not least, Cho says that getting plenty of fiber in your diet—something most Americans fail to do—is extremely important.

But supplements can also help you get there. Cho says ground psyllium seed—sold under the brand name Metamucil, and also in less-expensive but identical generic products—is a helpful source of soluble fiber that can reduce your LDL levels.

Read More: What to Know About High Cholesterol in Kids. Exercise is one way to pump up your HDL levels. However, when it comes to the best type of exercise for your cholesterol, the research is all over the place.

One review of studies, published in in the journal Systematic Review , found that yoga has the strongest evidence in favor of its cholesterol-improving benefits. While many other types of exercise are undeniably good for your heart and vascular system—and some, like swimming and cycling, have been found to reduce cholesterol—more research is needed to determine which are the best at shifting cholesterol scores.

Intermittent fasting plans come in a lot of different forms, but one type known as time-restricted eating has generated a lot of promising research findings.

Time-restricted feeding involves a daily fast, usually anywhere from 12 to 16 hours, while the rest of the day is open for normal eating. For example, you might eat lunch, dinner, and snacks between the hours of noon and 8 p. But the rest of the day, you avoid all caloric foods and beverages.

Time-restricted eating has been linked to significant weight loss—which often improves cholesterol scores—as well as lower LDL and total cholesterol.

There are other ways to improve your cholesterol naturally. But focusing on what and how you eat, as well as your exercise habits, is what experts say matter most. Researchers have found that taking steps to lower your cholesterol earlier in life, before that plaque buildup gains momentum, could lead to three-fold reductions in cardiovascular disease compared to delaying these healthy changes until middle age.

Sperling agrees, and says you could think of cholesterol health as similar to an investment portfolio: the earlier you start, the greater the eventual profit.