The Benefits of Fiber: For Your Heart, Weight, and Energy

Could you lower cholesterol levels with a bowl of oatmeal in the morning and a handful of nuts in the afternoon? It’s certainly possible.

“Dietary changes can have powerful effects on cholesterol levels,” says Edgar R. Miller III, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University. That’s true even if you don’t lose weight or exercise more, he says — although obviously it’s better to do those as well.

Reducing the amount of unhealthy fats you eat is a way to lower cholesterol, but it’s not all about subtraction. Adding foods to your diet — such as oatmeal and nuts, as well as olive oil, fatty fish, and foods fortified with sterols and stanols — can help lower unhealthy LDL levels and triglycerides.

Here are the facts about superfoods that lower cholesterol and boost heart health.

Fatty Fish to Lower Cholesterol

Fatty fish — such as tuna, salmon, trout, sardines, and herring — don’t seem to have an impact on bad LDL cholesterol. They do lower triglycerides — another form of fat in the blood that’s measured by cholesterol tests — by 20% to 50%. They also seem to boost good HDL cholesterol slightly and lower the risk of heart disease.

However, fatty fish are fatty. Eating too much could cause you to gain weight. The benefits also depend on how you prepare the fish. Canned tuna added to a salad is good. Canned tuna immersed in full-fat mayonnaise is not.

Nuts to Lower Cholesterol

Many nuts — such as almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, and pistachios — seem to help lower triglycerides. Like fatty fish, they contain substances that are converted to the omega-3 fatty acids known as EPA and DHA. They’re also a source of fiber. According to the FDA, eating 1.5 ounces of nuts daily is associated with a lower risk of heart disease.

Nuts are a great snack or topping for salads, cereal, and yogurt. Stick to a handful because they are high in calories.

Oatmeal and Oat Bran to Lower Cholesterol

There’s much evidence that the soluble fiber in oatmeal and oat bran help lower cholesterol levels. Although any whole grain is good for cholesterol, oats have the highest levels of soluble fiber.

How does the fiber in oatmeal help? Some think that as soluble fiber becomes a gel in your intestines, it sticks to cholesterol and prevents it from being absorbed. Miller believes that the benefit has a simpler explanation: Fiber fills you up, and when you’re full, you’re not eating other, less healthy foods.

One cup of oatmeal typically contains four grams of fiber – about 15% of the fiber most women need, and 10% of the fiber most men need. Consider a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, and then sprinkle oatmeal onto other foods throughout the day. You can also use oatmeal in baking.

Still, oatmeal isn’t always healthy. If you add a cup of cream to your oatmeal, or take in all of your oatmeal in cookie form, you’re eating saturated fat with your fiber – and not helping your cholesterol levels.

Olive Oil to Lower Cholesterol

Although all cooking oils are high in fat, the type of fat makes a difference, Miller says.

Olive oil — which is high in monounsaturated fat — seems to help lower bad LDL cholesterol levels without affecting good HDL cholesterol. Diets rich in olive oil, fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains are associated with lower risks of heart disease and stroke. Olive oil is also rich in healthy vitamin E, an antioxidant. Other healthy oils include canola and flaxseed.

The key is not just to add olive oil to your diet. You need to use it instead of less healthy oils higher in saturated and unsaturated fat, Miller says. How much do you need? The FDA recommends using two tablespoons daily as a replacement for less healthy oils.

Should you start drenching everything in olive oil? No. It’s still high in calories. Too much will lead to weight gain, says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, director of the cardiovascular nutrition research program at Tufts University’s Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.

Sterols and Stanols in Fortified Foods to Lower Cholesterol

We hear a lot about unhealthy food additives. Sterols and stanols are additives in special margarines and other products that help improve cholesterol. They occur naturally in some plants in very small amounts. In the body, they help lower cholesterol by blocking its absorption in the intestines.

Studies have shown that eating foods fortified with sterols or stanols — such as spreads or orange juice — twice a day can lower unhealthy LDL cholesterol by 5% to 17%. Sterols and stanols are also added to products like granola bars and cheese.

The American Heart Association recommends that people who have high cholesterol take two grams of sterols and stanols daily. Keep in mind that these recommendations are for people with diagnosed high cholesterol. “If you have normal cholesterol levels, sterols and stanols don’t have a benefit,” Lichtenstein says.

How to Use Foods to Lower Cholesterol

There’s no question that these foods can have a real benefit for people with unhealthy cholesterol levels. Still, it’s important to understand how to use them — and the limits of their benefits.

• Don’t think of cholesterol-lowering foods as the “cure.” Although eating a good diet is important for health, Lichtenstein is concerned about people seeing specific foods as medicine. A bowl of oatmeal might help lower cholesterol, but it won’t if you eat a hot fudge sundae later.
• Replace unhealthy foods with healthy ones. Some of the apparent benefits of cholesterol-lowering foods might come not from the foods, but from the foods they’re displacing. We know that eating fish for dinner twice a week is associated with a lower rate of heart disease. Why? Is it just the fish? Or is because the fish is pushing less healthy fare — like cheeseburgers — off the menu a few nights a week? Lichtenstein says we don’t know for sure.
  For that reason, don’t just add foods that lower cholesterol to your diet. See if they can replace some of the less healthy stuff you’re eating now.
• Remember that even healthy foods have calories. Foods that lower cholesterol still have calories, and too many calories cause weight gain — and that can worsen your cholesterol levels. Eating a pound of walnuts or a tub of margarine with sterols will do a lot more harm than good, Miller says.
• Keep in mind that genetics play a role. Dietary changes don’t work for everyone when it comes to achieving lower cholesterol levels. “Some people are just more susceptible genetically to the effects of diet than others,” Miller tells WebMD.
• Adopt a healthier lifestyle. Achieving lower cholesterol isn’t only about eating more walnuts and fortified orange juice. Ideally, it should involve bigger changes to your lifestyle, Liechtenstein says. That includes a diet high in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, as well as regular exercise.
• Work with your doctor. If you have unhealthy cholesterol levels, work with your doctor. Get regular blood tests to monitor your levels and track any other risk factors.

Depending on your case, your doctor might recommend managing your cholesterol with diet. But if you’re prescribed medicine, take it. Don’t think of eating more oatmeal as an alternative treatment. The risks of unhealthy cholesterol levels are just too high for you to handle the problem on your own.