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Diet tips: Keep your heart healthy with foods that lower bad cholesterol levels

Diet tips for heart health: Include a variety of cholesterol-lowering foods in your diet, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and fatty fish. Rotate these foods to ensure a balanced intake of nutrients.

April 20, 2024 / 09:21 IST
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Health benefits of nuts: Almonds, walnuts, and peanuts are not just delicious snacks but also help lower LDL cholesterol. A daily intake of 2 ounces of nuts leads to a slight decrease in LDL levels (Image: Canva)
Health benefits of nuts: Almonds, walnuts, and peanuts are not just delicious snacks but also help lower LDL cholesterol. A daily intake of 2 ounces of nuts leads to a slight decrease in LDL levels (Image: Canva)

Lowering LDL cholesterol, commonly referred to as "bad" cholesterol, is a key component of maintaining heart health. One effective strategy involves incorporating various foods into your diet that possess different cholesterol-lowering properties. These foods work in diverse ways, such as providing soluble fibre, which binds cholesterol in the digestive system, offering polyunsaturated fats that directly lower LDL, and containing plant sterols and stanols that block cholesterol absorption.

Let's take a look at these foods and how they contribute to heart health.

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Soluble fibre heroes

Oats: Oats are great for breakfast! Whether you're having oatmeal or cold oat-based cereals like Cheerios, they give you 1 to 2 gm of soluble fibre to start your day, says Hyderabad-based cardiologist Priyanka Sen. You can make this even better by adding fruits like bananas or strawberries. Soluble fibre is important for your health. Try to get 20 to 35 gm of fibre every day, with 5 to 10 gm of that coming from soluble sources like oats.