Introduction
If you’re looking for ways to lower your cholesterol almost instantly, then you’ve come to the right place. Eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones can make a huge difference in your cholesterol levels. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the best foods to eat and the worst foods to avoid in order to lower your cholesterol almost instantly. We’ll also provide some tips on how to make healthier food choices and how to incorporate these foods into your diet. By following these simple steps, you can start to see a difference in your cholesterol levels almost immediately. So let’s get started!
Ways to Lower Your Cholesterol “Almost Instantly” — Eat This Not That
High cholesterol can be a major health concern, but there are ways to lower it almost instantly. Here are some tips on what to eat and what to avoid to help you get your cholesterol levels back on track.
Eat This
- Oats: Oats are a great source of soluble fiber, which helps to reduce cholesterol levels.
- Fish: Fish is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which can help to reduce cholesterol levels.
- Nuts: Nuts are a great source of healthy fats, which can help to reduce cholesterol levels.
- Fruits and Vegetables: Fruits and vegetables are a great source of antioxidants, which can help to reduce cholesterol levels.
- Whole Grains: Whole grains are a great source of fiber, which can help to reduce cholesterol levels.
Not That
- Processed Foods: Processed foods are high in saturated fats, which can increase cholesterol levels.
- Red Meat: Red meat is high in saturated fats, which can increase cholesterol levels.
- Sugary Drinks: Sugary drinks are high in sugar, which can increase cholesterol levels.
- Trans Fats: Trans fats are found in processed foods and can increase cholesterol levels.
- Refined Carbohydrates: Refined carbohydrates are high in sugar, which can increase cholesterol levels.
By following these tips, you can lower your cholesterol levels almost instantly. Eating a healthy diet and avoiding processed foods and sugary drinks can help you get your cholesterol levels back on track.
Cholesterol is vital to many processes in the human body, and when people talk about high cholesterol in a negative way, they are usually referring to LDL (aka the “bad cholesterol”) rather than HDL (the “good cholesterol”), or VLDL (which carry triglycerides in the blood). Being told you have high cholesterol can be alarming—but luckily it can be reversed, provided you make some changes to your lifestyle. “There are ways to manage high cholesterol, and the wonderful news is that heart disease is 90% preventable,” says preventative cardiologist Leslie Cho, MD. “Even if you have a significant family history of high cholesterol, you can prevent heart disease.” Read on—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
If you want to lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol, you must eat a heart-healthy diet and cut out the processed junk. This is non-negotiable, and hardly difficult considering the most heart-healthy diet in the world—the Mediterranean diet—is utterly delicious, with its emphasis on olive oil, fish, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. “What you don’t eat is also important,” says Haitham Ahmed, M.D., M.P.H. “Large amounts of refined carbohydrates [such as sweets and white bread] can cause blood sugar spikes, which prompt the body to store fat in a different way and can lead to obesity and diabetes. Saturated fats [found in whole milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, fatty meats and poultry skin] can affect your cholesterol. All these harmful effects increase your risk of heart disease tremendously.”
Regular exercise is a fun and highly effective way to lower LDL cholesterol, fast. Walking, biking, yoga, hiking, lifting weights… pick a workout you can stick to, and one you actually enjoy. “The great thing about exercise is that it doesn’t always have to be the same,” says Dr. Cho. “Always check with your doctor before starting an exercise program, especially if your high cholesterol is putting you at more immediate risk for heart disease or stroke.”
Speaking of lifting weights… Did you know resistance training can lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol, irrespective of body weight? “Aerobic exercise and resistance training are the most important for heart health,” says Johns Hopkins exercise physiologist Kerry J. Stewart, Ed.D. “Although flexibility doesn’t contribute directly to heart health, it’s nevertheless important because it provides a good foundation for performing aerobic and strength exercises more effectively.”
We don’t need to tell you how bad smoking is for you—but, if you’re concerned about your cholesterol, it really is time to quit. “Smoking is so bad for your heart, and smoking really truly is one of the worst things we could do, not just for your heart, but for your brain and your lungs and all sorts of things,” says Dr. Cho. “It’s really bad for your lungs. But these risk factors are additive. So you smoke and you have high cholesterol, you have now doubled your risk. You smoke, you have high blood pressure, and you have cholesterol, it’s additive. It’s really additive. So it’s really important for your children, for yourself, for your longevity, but for your quality of life that you don’t smoke.”
Being overweight (with a BMI of 30 or above) greatly raises your risk of high cholesterol, but losing weight can lower that risk significantly. “If you are obese and have high cholesterol, losing weight should help lower your cholesterol, as well as your risk for other obesity-related conditions including diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” says Johns Hopkins Medicine.
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