In continuing my search for ways to lower my high cholesterol naturally, I came upon the term phytosterols or plant sterols. Phytosterols occur naturally in plants (go figure) and have cholesterol lowering qualities.
According to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, “numerous clinical trials have demonstrated that daily consumption of foods enriched with at least 0.8 g of plant sterols or stanols lowers serum LDL cholesterol. This is great news as it looks like adding phytosterols to your diet has the possibility of lowering LDL cholesterol 15 percent!
Naturally occurring phytosterols are found in peas and beans, nuts and seeds, and fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains.
I have compiled a list of foods I’ve found that have added plant sterols in them:
- spreads: Benecol and Take Control
- beverages: Minute Maid Heart Wise and Rice Dream Heartwise
- snacks: such as Nature Valley Healthy Heart Chewy Granola Bars
I haven’t had much luck here locally finding the beverages and snacks. I did get the spread and have used it on my veggies and rolls. As with everything, you need to keep total calories consumed in mind. But it’s a start.
Last week I found out I had really high LDL cholesterol. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and researching trying to find out how to lower my LDL cholesterol. Here’s some things I’ve found out:
- There’s a lot of miss-information on the Internet
- Some good sites are Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association
- There are plenty of guidelines on how to lower your cholesterol naturally, mostly through diet
- It can get pretty confusing
The main thing I’ve found out so far is that I need to stay away from saturated fats and trans fats in order to lower LDL cholesterol. I also found out they seem to be in a lot of the things I like (well, cookies, candy, ice cream and brownies at least).
I also found out I’m already doing a few things right. I eat oatmeal every morning for breakfast and I add ground flaxseed to it. I also get a fair amount of exercise. Things I don’t do that I should: eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day- not even close.
There does seem to be a consensis about certain foods that have proven to lower LDL cholesterol:
- Oatmeal and oat bran
- Flaxseed
- Omega-3 fatty acids and fish
- Nuts
- Olive oil
So far I’ve added daily omega-3 supplements and olive oil to my oatmeal and flaxseed – not at the same time of course. I’m working on the nuts. Frankly, I’m not a big fan of nuts so I’m going to try to use them in salads and maybe work up to eating them whole.
One thing that was stressed by all the sources on LDL cholesterol: you must watch your calorie intake because these foods can be high in calories even though they are good for you.
I’ve started keeping a food journal at Lance Armstrong’s website Livestrong.com called the Daily Plate. It’s a free application that keeps track of what you eat daily. It stores your information so you can refer back if you want. It’s easy to look up foods and I believe they have everything listed. It’s been a great help for me so far.
Tags: how to lower ldl, ldl cholesterol, lower your cholesterol natrually