8 Ways to Boost Your "Good" Cholesterol [HDL]

Fighting for the Good

You probably know all about the two types of cholesterol: HDL and LDL. Too much LDL (bad) cholesterol can gunk up your blood and clog your arteries, but HDL (good) cholesterol acts like a housekeeper for your blood, mopping up excess LDL and tossing it in the trash (your liver) for disposal. HDL also decreases inflammation and may protect against Alzheimer's, too. How can you get more HDL? Start with these eight strategies. 

Take a Walk

A quick, 30-minute walk each day is all you need to increase HDL by 9%. Can't squeeze in a daily walk? Shoot for 30 to 45 minutes of higher-intensity aerobic exercise two to three times a week. That more-condensed regimen will increase your HDL up to 5 points (not bad considering every 1-point jump in HDL drops your risk for cardiovascular disease by 3%).

Lose Weight

Obesity and low HDL tend to go hand in hand, but you don't have to become runway-model thin to raise your good cholesterol. You can bump it up one point for every 6.6 pounds of excess body weight you drop.

Boost Your Vitamin B

Two B vitamins can help raise HDL: niacin (B3) and pantothenic acid (B5). Niacin works, but it can have side effects, including liver damage and intense hot flushing. A supplement containing 300 mg of B5 can also help increase your HDL cholesterol. To be safe, talk to your doctor before you take these supplements. Serious side effects, allergic reactions, and interactions with other drugs are possible.

Opt for More Omega-3s

Cold-water fish such as salmon and trout are high in a particular type of omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) that helps raise HDL cholesterol. (DHA also protects brain and eye health, and helps with weight control.) To ensure you get ample DHA, Mehmet C. Oz, MD, and Michael F. Roizen, MD, also recommend a daily 900 mg algae-based omega-3 supplement.

Stop Smoking

Kick this habit to the curb and you'll crank up your HDL by a whopping 4 points. You'll also slash your risk of lung cancer and other life-threatening diseases. If you've struggled and failed to quit smoking, don't give up. Sometimes it takes a new approach to succeed. Ask your doctor for advice on how to quit.

Drink Alcohol in Moderation

A daily glass of red wine or other alcoholic beverage may help lower your risk for cardiovascular disease by up to 40%. That's because the ethanol in all forms of alcohol helps increase HDL cholesterol and prevent blood clots. The key is moderation: no more than one drink per day for the ladies; two for the gents.

Eat Less Sugar

Gobbling more than 90 grams of sugar a day can jack up bad-for-you triglycerides and take a bite out of your HDL level. Limit added sugars to less than 100 calories (about 2 tablespoons) a day. That includes obvious sources, such as a teaspoon of sugar in your morning coffee, as well as sugars in processed foods -- everything from condiments and salad dressings to cereal. Yet another reason to carefully read food labels!

Skip Bad-for-You Fat

Cut back on foods high in saturated fat and trans fat. These unhealthy fats raise LDL cholesterol, boost inflammation, and damage blood vessels. Trans fats also reduce HDL. Cut down on saturated fat by eating less meat and full-fat dairy. Aim for no more than 7% of your daily calories from saturated fat. Avoid trans fat by skipping processed food, such as cookies, crackers, margarine, or any product containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

LOWERING CHOLESTEROL...

The foods that will cut your cholesterol in just three months... and you don't have to give up cheese, chocolate or breakfast eggs

A majority of Britons, 60 per cent, have unhealthy cholesterol levels

Managing this does not have to be hard and including these foods is a start

Add 'smart foods', fibres, nuts, soya, healthy oils and oats to your diet

Your cholesterol is too high. Well, perhaps not specifically you, but thousands of Britons have this news broken to them by doctors every day. We all have an amount of this special type of fat in our blood. It is essential for many bodily functions, but most of us – 60 per cent – have too much.

High cholesterol is a key factor in developing heart disease, which claims three times more lives than breast cancer and twice as many as lung cancer. The good news is that lowering your cholesterol is the biggest thing you can do to reduce your risk. 

It’s something TV personality Gabby Logan, for one, is keen to promote. ‘A key risk factor for heart disease is high cholesterol but you can protect yourself with simple changes to lifestyle and diet,’ says Gabby, who is supporting the British Heart Foundation Love Your Heart campaign.

Few simple tweaks to your diet — like these, along with exercise and other heart-healthy habits — may be helpful in lowering your cholesterol.

1. Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods

Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which reduces your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad," cholesterol. Soluble fiber is also found in such foods as kidney beans, apples, pears, barley and prunes.

Soluble fiber can reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your bloodstream. Five to 10 grams or more of soluble fiber a day decreases your total and LDL cholesterol. Eating 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal provides 6 grams of fiber. If you add fruit, such as bananas, you'll add about 4 more grams of fiber. To mix it up a little, try steel-cut oatmeal or cold cereal made with oatmeal or oat bran.

2. Fish and omega-3 fatty acids

Eating fatty fish can be heart healthy because of its high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which can reduce your blood pressure and risk of developing blood clots. In people who have already had heart attacks, fish oil — or omega-3 fatty acids — reduces the risk of sudden death.

The American Heart Association recommends eating at least two servings of fish a week. The highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids are in:
Mackerel
Lake trout
Herring
Sardines
Albacore tuna
Salmon
Halibut

You should bake or grill the fish to avoid adding unhealthy fats. If you don't like fish, you can also get small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids from foods like ground flaxseed or canola oil.

You can take an omega-3 or fish oil supplement to get some of the benefits, but you won't get other nutrients in fish, such as selenium. If you decide to take a supplement, just remember to watch your diet and eat lean meat or vegetables in place of fish.

3. Walnuts, almonds and other nuts

Walnuts, almonds and other nuts can reduce blood cholesterol. Rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, walnuts also help keep blood vessels healthy.

Eating about a handful (1.5 ounces, or 42.5 grams) a day of most nuts, such as almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts, may reduce your risk of heart disease. Just make sure the nuts you eat aren't salted or coated with sugar.

All nuts are high in calories, so a handful will do. To avoid eating too many nuts and gaining weight, replace foods high in saturated fat with nuts. For example, instead of using cheese, meat or croutons in your salad, add a handful of walnuts or almonds.

4. Olive oil

Olive oil contains a potent mix of antioxidants that can lower your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol but leave your "good" (HDL) cholesterol untouched.

Try using about 2 tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil a day in place of other fats in your diet to get its heart-healthy benefits. To add olive oil to your diet, you can saute vegetables in it, add it to a marinade or mix it with vinegar as a salad dressing. You can also use olive oil as a substitute for butter when basting meat or as a dip for bread. Olive oil is high in calories, so don't eat more than the recommended amount.

The cholesterol-lowering effects of olive oil are even greater if you choose extra-virgin olive oil, meaning the oil is less processed and contains more heart-healthy antioxidants. But keep in mind that "light" olive oils are usually more processed than extra-virgin or virgin olive oils and are lighter in color, not fat or calories.

5. Foods with added plant sterols or stanols

Foods are now available that have been fortified with sterols or stanols — substances found in plants that help block the absorption of cholesterol.

Margarines, orange juice and yogurt drinks with added plant sterols can help reduce LDL cholesterol by more than 10 percent. The amount of daily plant sterols needed for results is at least 2 grams — which equals about two 8-ounce (237-milliliter) servings of plant sterol-fortified orange juice a day.

Plant sterols or stanols in fortified foods don't appear to affect levels of triglycerides or of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol.
Other changes to your diet

For any of these foods to provide their benefit, you need to make other changes to your diet and lifestyle.

Cut back on the cholesterol and total fat — especially saturated and trans fats — that you eat. Saturated fats, like those in meat, full-fat dairy products and some oils, raise your total cholesterol. Trans fats, which are sometimes found in margarines and store-bought cookies, crackers and cakes, are particularly bad for your cholesterol levels. Trans fats raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad," cholesterol, and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good," cholesterol.

In addition to changing your diet, keep in mind that making additional heart-healthy lifestyle changes are key to lowering your cholesterol. Talk to your doctor about exercising, quitting smoking and maintaining a healthy weight to help keep your cholesterol level low.