{"id":5483,"date":"2025-09-05T11:45:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T15:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/?p=5483"},"modified":"2025-09-05T11:45:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T15:45:12","slug":"foods-to-help-lower-cholesterol-protect-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/05\/foods-to-help-lower-cholesterol-protect-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Foods to Help Lower Cholesterol, Protect Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The foods you eat play a vital role in your cholesterol levels.<\/p>

If you suffer from high cholesterol, as more than 120 million North Americans do, certain foods can help you\u00a0naturally lower cholesterol<\/a>\u00a0and protect your heart.<\/p>

Top 5 Foods to Help Lower Cholesterol, Protect Heart<\/h3>

Nuts:<\/strong>\u00a0Numerous studies have shown that eating as little as 2 oz. of nuts such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, pistachios, and macadamia nuts have a beneficial impact on cholesterol.<\/p>

Loma Linda University researchers found eating nuts daily increased the ratio of HDL (\u201cgood\u201d cholesterol) to LDL (\u201cbad\u201d cholesterol) by 8.3 percent.<\/p>

Nuts are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids that promote healthy cholesterol levels. Nuts are high in calories, so just a small handful will suffice, or you can add them to you salad.<\/p>

Dark Chocolate:<\/strong>\u00a0A 2008 study in the Journal of Nutrition reported that consuming dark chocolate daily resulted in a 2 percent reduction in total cholesterol and a 5.3 percent reduction in LDL cholesterol.<\/p>

When the dark chocolate contain cocoa flavanoids (natural chemicals with antioxidant properties) there was also a decrease in blood pressure.<\/p>

\"FoodsSeek out dark chocolate that contains at least 70 percent cocoa. The higher the cocoa count the better. A tip: if you bit into dark chocolate, you may find it bitter, try not to chew it , rather let it melt in your mouth.<\/p>

The experience is far more enjoyable. Milk chocolate, is mostly that, milk with a lot of sugar, with very little, if any, real cocoa. Stick to the dark for the health benefits.<\/p>

Oatmeal and High-Fiber Foods:<\/strong>\u00a0A bowl of oatmeal in the morning (or any time of day) can provide you with 1 to 2 grams of soluble fiber. Soluble fiber reduces LDL (low-density lipoprotein), the \u201cbad\u201d cholesterol. Beans, apples, pears, barely, and other whole grains also contain soluble fiber.<\/p>

If you are eating cereal in the morning, switch to oatmeal, not only will it help your cholesterol levels, its fiber content will keep you fuller longer, avoiding the need for the mid-morning snack that may add to your waistline.<\/p>

Fish:<\/strong>\u00a0Eating fish that have high levels of\u00a0omega-3<\/a>\u00a0fatty acids can lower your risk of\u00a0cardiovascular disease<\/a>\u00a0and also reduces the risk of sudden death from\u00a0heart disease<\/a>.<\/p>

The American Heart Association recommends you eat a 3.5 oz. portion of fatty fish (high in\u00a0omega-3s<\/a>) two times per week. The fish with the highest\u00a0omega-3<\/a>\u00a0fatty acids are: mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tune, salmon, and halibut.<\/p>

In addition to protecting your heart,\u00a0omega-3<\/a>\u00a0fats have been shown to reduce the risk of dementia, arthritis and other inflammatory disease, depression, anxiety, and many other diseases.<\/p>

Fruits and Vegetables:<\/strong>\u00a0Naturally high in fiber, numerous studies have shown that fruits and vegetables have an excellent cholesterol-lowering effect. Examples include: apples, avocados,berries, citrus fruits, eggplant, spinach to name just a few are good choices.<\/p>

Try to eat a minimum of 5 serving of fruits and vegetables per day, but strive for 7 to 10.<\/p>

They are generally low in calories (avocados with their high monounsaturated \u201cgood\u201d fat count in an exception) and are extremely nutritious. You will be doing your heart and overall health a favor by eating more items from the produce aisle.<\/p>

Natural Supplements to Help Protect Your Heart<\/h3>

Cardio Support<\/a>\u00a0contains ingredients that affect different aspects of cardiovascular health, including arterial integrity, blood health, heart muscle strength and better blood flow.<\/p>

Additionally, the ingredients in\u00a0Cardio Support<\/a>\u00a0overlap their abilities, to enhance one another\u2019s effects, increasing long-term heart health and protection against degenerative disease.<\/p>

Cardio Support<\/a>\u00a0is the only natural supplement that we are aware of which utilizes enteric coating technology to safely release the active ingredients in the stomach. This delivery method not only protects the enzymes such as Nattokinase but also greatly enhances the efficacy of other ingredients present such as\u00a0Resveratrol<\/a>\u00a0and L-Glutathione. No other formula covers so many \u2018angles\u2019 to manage and protect your cardiovascular system, and yet\u00a0Cardio Support<\/a>\u00a0is still natural with no known side effects.<\/p>

About the Author:<\/p>

Evan Apostolakis, BA, MA, ND, CNHP, is a naturopathic and preventive medicine consultant, author, and speaker with a specialty in cardiovascular health.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The foods you eat play a vital role in your cholesterol levels. If you suffer from high cholesterol, as more than 120 million North Americans do, certain foods can help you\u00a0naturally lower cholesterol\u00a0and protect your heart. Top 5 Foods to Help Lower Cholesterol, Protect Heart Nuts:\u00a0Numerous studies have shown that eating as little as 2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heart-blood-circulatory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5483\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}