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"  Now that you know all about cholesterol (and have hopefully made an appointment to get yours checked!), it&amp;#039;s time to learn how to lower it\u2014or maintain a healthy level. As I learned, you have no control over genetics. But you can make lifestyle changes and adopt healthy eating habits that can help lower you LDL and raise you HDL levels. Before embarking on my experiment to see how much I could lower my LDL with diet modification, I consulted our Nutrition Director, Samantha Cassetty. See her tips below on what you can start\u2014and stop\u2014eating to be heart-healthy: \u2022 Limit your saturated fat intake to less than 7% of your total daily calories and avoid trans fats. Saturated fat is found in marbled cuts of beef and whole-milk dairy products. Use lean cuts of beef and low-fat or fat-free dairy. \u2022 Take steps to lower your cholesterol and sodium intake. The American Heart Association suggests getting no more than 200 mg of cholesterol and no more than 1500 mg of sodium per day. Cutting back on heavily packaged process foods\u2014the leading source of sodium in your diet\u2014will go a long way toward helping you reach your goal. \u2022 Repeat after me: soluble fiber! Soluble fiber can reduce the absorption of cholesterol in your bloodstream and can lower your total, and LDL, cholesterol if you aim for 5-10mg a day. Eating oatmeal for breakfast is an easy\u2014and delicious\u2014way to reach that goal. Top it with apples or pears and you&amp;#039;ll get even closer to your desired daily intake. Try replacing some of your meaty meals with beans. Hummus is an excellent way to add garbanzo beans to your diet. \u2022 Eat your fruits and veggies, aiming for at least five servings a day. It&amp;#039;s a win-win: Produce comes packaged with lots of health-boosting nutrients, like fiber, but are low in calories. That means they not only help your heart but they also help your waistline! \u2022 Up your intake of omega-3 fatty acids. Having at least two servings of fatty fish a week can reduce your triglycerides (another blood fat) and risk of developing blood clots. Who wouldn&amp;#039;t love a sushi night? Wary of eating raw fish? Canned tuna and salmon are good sources. If you aren&amp;#039;t fond of fish, you can get the same perks in a fish oil capsule. Look for one that contains at least 500 mg of DHA and EPA, the two fish fats that are helpful. \u2022 Be nutty. Walnuts, almonds, and other nuts can reduce LDL cholesterol levels. Just one and a half ounces a day of most nuts may reduce your risk of heart disease\u2014and make a great oatmeal topping. One warning: Nuts, while good for you, are also high in calories so don&amp;#039;t overdo this tip! \u2022 Ditch the ranch and reach for extra-virgin olive oil to dress your salad (that you&amp;#039;ll be eating to get your 5 servings of veggies a day!). Olive oil contains potent antioxidants that can lower your LDL levels but leave your HDL untouched. Use olive oil in place of butter and creamy dressings and you&amp;#039;ll be on your way to reducing your saturated fat intake (see tip 1). \u2022 Keep a lookout for orange juice or yogurt drinks labeled &amp;quot;fortified with sterols or stanols&amp;quot; that have been popping up in grocery stores lately. Stanols and sterols are found in plants and help block the absorption of cholesterol and can reduce LDL levels by more than 10 percent if you consume at least 2 grams a day. \u2022 The incredible, edible egg. So what did Samantha have to say about my beloved daily 3-egg breakfast? Drop it down to one. If your LDL is high, you should keep your cholesterol intake to less than 200mg a day (300mg if you are healthy). One large egg has about 213mg of cholesterol\u2014all of which is found in the yolk. Adhering to that, I can eat one hardboiled egg and the whites of the other two but will have to avoid any other sources of cholesterol\u2026I think I&amp;#039;ll stick to my new habit of oatmeal and walnuts! By following the above guidelines, just how much can you lower your cholesterol? Well I got my blood drawn this morning so we&amp;#039;ll find out as soon as I get the results! Check back shortly for the before and after comparison. For more heart-healthy recipes, check out the winners from our Cook Your Heart Out contest last year. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a21591/ways-to-lower-your-cholesterol-by-changing-your-diet/>