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Heart Healthy Snacks to Lower Cholesterol

Are you a fried food, cheesy pizza and red meat addict? Those temptations, and in excess, are likely driving up your cholesterol. After years of unhealthy eating, it may be difficult to identify which foods are doing you harm, and which can have the opposite effect. Still, with a few simple changes in your diet, you can actually eat your way to lower cholesterol.

  1. Identify the Bad Foods and Cut Back

    • According to Jane Borchers, a dietitian with the Preventative Cardiology Clinic at Stanford Hospital, reducing saturated fat, trans fat and dietary cholesterol-containing foods is a good way to begin lowering your LDL (low density lipoprotein), or bad cholesterol. Diet is one of the simplest ways to affect your cholesterol levels.

    Saturated Fat Replacements

    • Love dairy? Switch to 1 percent or fat-free skim milk. Opt for reduced fat cheese and sour cream. Instead of ice cream try a sherbet, frozen yogurt or soymilk product.
      Meat eater? Choose turkey over ground beef in hamburgers and recipes that call for ground meat. Try a veggie hot dog at your next cookout, instead of a high-fat wiener. Avoid sausage and bacon with breakfast; try getting a bowl of fresh fruit instead. And speaking of breakfast, skip commercial muffins, scones, doughnuts and the like. Try a banana and a protein bar instead.

      Candy bar addict? Chocolate can have positive health effects, but candy bars are high in saturated fats. When you crave an afternoon snack, try fruit with yogurt or a package of nuts instead of a chocolate bar from the vending machine.

    Better Than Trans Fats

    • Nearly everything you grab at the convenience store or that is fried at a fast food restaurant will be high in trans fats. Avoid fried foods such as french fries and opt for a side salad with a light dressing. Remember, the dressing is what adds fat and calories to the salad. Use it sparingly.

      Purchase a trans fat free margarine for baking and as a spread, rather than the stick margarine, which is loaded with trans fat.

    Foods to Avoid

    • Borcher recommends eating no more than two egg yolks each week. Organ meats are also not recommended. Most American meat portions are much larger than the recommended amount. Weigh your portions to avoid overeating meats. Five to 6 oz. a day of lean meat is all you need.

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