Medically reviewed by Simone Harounian, MS
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- Fiber-rich foods can help lower cholesterol by reducing its absorption and supporting heart health.
- Replacing saturated fats and refined carbohydrates with olive oil, whole grains, and other high-fiber foods may improve total and LDL cholesterol levels.
- Cooking more meals from scratch and choosing plant-based ingredients can support healthier cholesterol levels and reduce heart disease risk.
Having high levels of total and LDL cholesterol can significantly increase your risk of developing heart disease. While you can’t always control all of the factors that cause high cholesterol levels, following a healthy diet, including preparing nutritious, cholesterol-friendly dinners, is one of the best ways to support healthier blood lipid levels. Here are nutritionist-approved tips for cooking dinners that lower cholesterol.
1. Choose Fiber-Rich Foods
If you’re trying to lower your cholesterol, fiber is the most important nutrient to focus on. Soluble fiber, which is found in foods like beans, fruits, and vegetables, reduces cholesterol levels by blocking its absorption in the digestive tract and promoting its excretion from the body.
Increasing your fiber intake can lower your blood lipid levels and also reduce other heart disease risk factors, like high blood pressure and high blood sugar.
When cooking dinner, try incorporating high-fiber foods, like lentils, artichokes, avocado, acorn squash, and broccoli, into your recipes.
2. Replace Saturated Fats with Unsaturated Fats
Replacing sources of saturated fats, like butter, with unsaturated fats is an effective way to lower cholesterol. Eating too much saturated fat may increase LDL cholesterol by impairing liver receptors that regulate cholesterol levels.
Olive oil is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a heart-healthy fat to incorporate into your dinners. Olive oil is high in monounsaturated fats and polyphenol antioxidants, which may help lower LDL cholesterol, increase protective HDL cholesterol, and promote overall heart health.
Use olive oil for low- to moderate-heat cooking and try it as a finishing oil for salads, fish, and veggie dishes.
3. Swap Refined Carbs for Complex Carbs
Refined carbs, like white rice and white pasta, contain significantly less fiber than complex carbs. This makes them a less healthy choice, especially if you’re trying to lower your cholesterol levels and improve your heart health.
For example, research shows that swapping refined grains for whole grains may improve total and LDL cholesterol levels and hemoglobin A1c, a long-term marker of blood sugar control that can affect heart disease risk.
Swapping your usual white rice or white pasta for a more cholesterol-friendly, higher-fiber option, such as quinoa, whole-wheat pasta, or lentils, can make a significant difference in how your dinner affects your blood lipids.
4. Cook More Meals From Scratch
If you’re looking for a way to save money while lowering your cholesterol, making more dinners at home is a smart move. Not only do studies show that cooking more meals at home can help you cut back on spending, but they also show that home-cooked meals are better for your heart.
Studies show that eating more meals out of the home and frequenting fast food establishments is linked with poor diet quality and higher rates of elevated blood lipid levels and cardiovascular-related death.
Plus, people who cook more meals at home tend to weigh less, consume fewer calories, and have a better overall diet quality than those who rarely cook.
Cooking dinner at home lets you control the ingredients you use, which is essential when you’re trying to lower your cholesterol.
5. Prepare More Plant-Based Meals
Studies show that following a plant-based diet may be an effective way to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease.
A 2023 review of 30 studies found that vegetarian and vegan diets were associated with reduced levels of total and LDL cholesterol, as well as lower levels of apolipoprotein B (apoB), a protein that’s linked to an increased risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.
Plant-based diets are typically rich in nutrients known to lower cholesterol, such as fiber and plant-derived compounds called phytosterols. Phytosterols, which are concentrated in plant cell walls, compete with cholesterol for absorption in the intestine, which can help reduce blood cholesterol levels. Plant-based diets are also naturally low in dietary sources of cholesterol, like eggs and red meat.
Cooking more plant-based dinners by swapping your go-to animal-based proteins with plant options, like lentils and tofu, and prioritizing healthy plant foods, like vegetables, nuts, and seeds, may help you reduce your blood lipid levels.
