High cholesterol often is treated and managed by a combination of adjusting certain lifestyle factors and taking cholesterol-lowering medicines prescribed by a doctor.

If you take medicine to treat high low-density lipoprotein LDL cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, or diabetes:. Learn more about medicines that can help lower your high cholesterol.

You can take steps to lower your LDL cholesterol levels by making healthy changes to your lifestyle, such as choosing foods lower in saturated and trans fats and maintaining a healthy weight. Discuss your treatment plan regularly, and bring a list of questions to your appointments.

Learn about what kinds of family history factors can increase your risk for high cholesterol. You may need to have your cholesterol levels tested at least once every 4 to 6 years if you do not have heart disease.

Some people need to get their cholesterol checked more often or less often. Talk with your health care team about the timeline that is best for you. If you do smoke, quitting will lower your risk for heart disease.

Too much alcohol can raise cholesterol levels and levels of triglycerides , a type of fat in the blood. You and your health care team can work together to prevent high cholesterol. Discuss your other medical conditions and any medicines you are taking, and bring a list of questions to your appointments.

You can use this list of questions from the Million Hearts ® The Scoop on Statins webpage. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to search. Español Other Languages. Prevent High Cholesterol. Minus Related Pages. Make healthy eating choices Your body makes all of the cholesterol it needs, so you do not need to obtain cholesterol through foods.

What you can do to help prevent cholesterol: Limit foods high in saturated fat. Saturated fats come from animal products such as cheese, fatty meats, and dairy desserts and tropical oils such as palm oil. She suggests a few ways to start getting your cholesterol under control and keep it normal.

There is so much evidence implicating trans fats in heart disease. Trans fats are created by adding hydrogen to a liquid fat to help it solidify. Food manufacturers started using trans fats because they extend the shelf life of packaged baked goods. Fast-food purveyors took to them because they can be reused again and again.

Although public pressure has forced the food industry to phase out trans fats, they haven't disappeared entirely. To avoid eating them inadvertently, scrutinize the labels on food packages before you put them in your shopping cart.

If you see "partially hydrogenated" in the list of ingredients, pass that product by. If trans fats aren't banned from restaurants in your area, ask if the cook uses partially hydrogenated oil before you order. Saturated fats and dietary cholesterol, which are derived primarily from animal products, aren't exactly heart-healthy, but it's all right to eat them in small amounts.

McManus says that because eggs are such a good source of nutrients, it's okay to have as many as four yolks a week and whites as often as you like. She also gives a nod to red meat, shrimp, lobster, high-fat cheeses, butter, and organ meats—but only to small portions of each one every couple of weeks or so.

Both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids help lower LDL. Most plant-derived oils, including canola, safflower, sunflower, olive, grapeseed, and peanut oils, contain both. Fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, trout, herring, and mackerel , seeds, nuts, avocados and soybeans are also great sources.

Fruits and vegetables have scads of ingredients that lower cholesterol—including fiber, cholesterol-blocking molecules called sterols and stanols, and eye-appealing pigments. The heart-healthy list spans the color spectrum—leafy greens, yellow squashes, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, plums, blueberries.

As a rule, the richer the hue, the better the food is for you. Whole grains are another good source of fiber. Instead of refined flour and white rice, try whole-wheat flour and brown or wild rice.

Old-fashioned oatmeal is also a good choice, but not the quick-cooking versions, which have had much of the fiber processed out.

And don't substitute sugar for fat. Food manufacturers may boost the sugar content of low-fat salad dressings and sauces to add flavor. If you see sugar, corn syrup, or any word ending in "ose" near the top of the list of ingredients, choose a higher-fat version without trans fats instead.

All fats , whether good or bad, have nine calories per gram—about calories a tablespoon. While you switch to a heart-healthy diet you may need to keep tabs on your calorie intake for a while.

One type, LDL , is sometimes called the "bad" cholesterol. A high LDL level leads to a buildup of cholesterol in your arteries. Another type, HDL , is sometimes called the "good" cholesterol. It carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver.

Then your liver removes the cholesterol from your body. The treatments for high cholesterol are heart-healthy lifestyle changes and medicines. The lifestyle changes include healthy eating, weight management, and regular physical activity.

Heart-healthy lifestyle changes include a diet to lower your cholesterol. The DASH eating plan is one example. Another is the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet, which recommends that you. Choose healthier fats.

You should limit both total fat and saturated fat. Depending upon how many calories you eat per day, here are the maximum amounts of fats that you should eat:. Saturated fat is a bad fat because it raises your LDL bad cholesterol level more than anything else in your diet.

It is found in some meats, dairy products, chocolate, baked goods, and deep-fried and processed foods. Trans fat is another bad fat; it can raise your LDL and lower you HDL good cholesterol. Trans fat is mostly in foods made with hydrogenated oils and fats, such as stick margarine, crackers, and french fries.

Instead of these bad fats, try healthier fats, such as lean meat, nuts, and unsaturated oils like canola, olive, and safflower oils. Limit foods with cholesterol.

If you are trying to lower your cholesterol, you should have less than mg a day of cholesterol. Cholesterol is in foods of animal origin, such as liver and other organ meats, egg yolks, shrimp, and whole milk dairy products.

Eat plenty of soluble fiber. Foods high in soluble fiber help prevent your digestive tract from absorbing cholesterol. Companies are adding them to foods ranging from margarine and granola bars to orange juice and chocolate. They're also available as supplements. Eating soybeans and foods made from them, like tofu and soy milk, was once touted as a powerful way to lower cholesterol.

Fatty fish. Eating fish two or three times a week can lower LDL in two ways: by replacing meat, which has LDL-boosting saturated fats, and by delivering LDL-lowering omega-3 fats. Omega-3s reduce triglycerides in the bloodstream and also protect the heart by helping prevent the onset of abnormal heart rhythms.

Fiber supplements. Supplements offer the least appealing way to get soluble fiber. Two teaspoons a day of psyllium, which is found in Metamucil and other bulk-forming laxatives, provide about 4 grams of soluble fiber.

When it comes to investing money, experts recommend creating a portfolio of diverse investments instead of putting all your eggs in one basket.

The same holds true for eating your way to lower cholesterol. Adding several foods to lower cholesterol in different ways should work better than focusing on one or two. A largely vegetarian "dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods" substantially lowers LDL, triglycerides, and blood pressure.

The key dietary components are plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains instead of highly refined ones, and protein mostly from plants.

Add margarine enriched with plant sterols; oats, barley, psyllium, okra, and eggplant, all rich in soluble fiber; soy protein; and whole almonds. Of course, shifting to a cholesterol-lowering diet takes more attention than popping a daily statin.

It means expanding the variety of foods you usually put in your shopping cart and getting used to new textures and flavors. In: Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine.

Philadelphia, Pa. Accessed May 22, Tangney CC, et al. Lipid lowering with diet or dietary supplements. Catapano AL, et al. Department of Health and Human Services and U.

Department of Agriculture. Final determination regarding partially hydrogenated oils removing trans fat. Food and Drug Administration. Accessed June 28, Cooking to lower cholesterol. American Heart Association. Fekete AA, et al. Whey protein lowers blood pressure and improves endothelial function and lipid biomarkers in adults with prehypertension and mild hypertensions: Results from the chronic Whey2Go randomized controlled trial.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Douglas PS. Exercise and fitness in the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Accessed May 30, Hyperlipidemia adult.

Rochester, Minn. Braun LT, et al. Effects of exercise on lipoproteins and hemostatic factors. Smoke-free living: Benefits and milestones. Accessed May , Cardiovascular benefits and risks of moderate alcohol consumption. Accessed May 31, Bonow RO, et al. Risk markers and the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

In: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. Products and Services A Book: Mayo Clinic Family Health Book, 5th Edition Nutritional Supplements at Mayo Clinic Store Newsletter: Mayo Clinic Health Letter — Digital Edition.

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