Dr Oz: Lower Your Cholesterol
Dr Oz announced that February is Heart Health Month, so he wanted to share ways you can cut your cholesterol right now, by up to 20%. He was joined by two women who work together at the same school as teachers’ aides, and who both happen to have high cholesterol. One of them had 182, while the other had a number of 159, both of which were higher than what is desired. Dr Oz explained that ideally, he would like for people’s numbers to be less than 100.
Dr Oz: HDL Vs LDL Cholesterol
Dr Oz shared how you can lower your cholesterol, and explained the difference between LDL and HDL cholesterol. (Dirk Ercken / Shutterstock.com)
One woman shared that she’s been looking on the internet for ways to lower her cholesterol, but feels like every time she tries to do something, it never works. She said she actually has no idea what LDL and HDL mean in terms of cholesterol.
Dr Oz said to imagine LDL like a giant float bouncing into buildings and spewing out cholesterol. He said it’s spewing out junk into your arteries that you don’t want to have there. HDL is the good stuff that grabs cholesterol and takes it out of your body so you don’t have to worry about it. He said you want not as much LDL and as much HDL as you can get.
Dr Oz: How To Lower LDL Cholesterol
Dr Oz then shared that a study showed you can drop your LDL cholesterol by 20%, which is the kind of drop you get by taking medications. So if it’s not coming from medication, what else can you do?
Dr Oz said you should get two servings of plant sterols per day. Plant sterols confuse the body a little bit and blocks cholesterol, helping you. The easiest way to get them are with tree nuts like almonds and pistachios. If you can’t eat nuts you can also get them from buttery spreads or orange juice that has plant sterols listed on the label.
Dr Oz: Meatless Meals Twice Per Week
Next, Dr Oz suggested having two meatless meals per week. He explained that people who eat animal fats tend to have more cholesterol in their diets. He suggested eliminating the meats and replacing them with vegetables or beans like pinto beans, black beans, or kidney beans. Just twice a week is all it takes.
Dr Oz added that if you have any complaints about gas, wash the beans. That simple!
Dr Oz: Eat Fish Twice A Week
Dr Oz then got a tip from Food Network chef Kelsey Nixon, who shared that she likes to incorporate fish into her weeknight meals at least twice a week. She said salmon is her favorite. Dr Oz suggested two fish meals per week, saying the omega-3s help with the bad cholesterol as well.
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