We hear them preached everywhere, every time.. Eat good cholesterol foods and reduce your figures. When it comes to cholesterol, we all know that there are “good” ones and “bad” ones, with HDL being the good type and LDL the bad type. The problem is how to stick with the good one and get rid of the bad one? It’s a rather complicated subject, so let’s start..

Cholesterol itself is actually very important to human life. It’s when they are present in high levels in your bloodstream that it becomes a problem. Diseases such as stroke, heart disease and other cardiovascular related diseases are associated with high cholesterol. Specifically, high LDL and low HDL should be avoided. LDL may become hardened and forms plaque in your arteries, therefore slowing blood flow. HDL on the other hand, has the ability to take back excessive LDL back into the liver.

We don’t exactly eat HDL or LDL, it forms in the body. Some of the foods that we eat do contain cholesterol, such as eggs, dairy and animal fat. Plant oils and fats contain a cholesterol-like substance called phytosterols. They help lower blood cholesterol levels. Saturated and trans-fats contribute to high LDL, as do simple carbohydrates, such as sugar and white flour.

In general, good cholesterol foods are foods coming from plants, because of the phytosterol they contain. Most animal meats are not good when it comes to cholesterol, except fish (especially deep sea fish) because they contain Omega-3 fats, which are found in canola oil as well.

Keeping a good diet to maintain low LDL level can be be done by eating lots of whole grain foods such as oatmeal and fish. Also don’t forget to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables daily. Eating a bowl of oatmeal every day has been shown to reduce LDL levels.

When you are cooking or baking, choose olive or canola oil, rather than lard or saturated fat. And, eat some nuts every day. It has been determined that eating certain nuts decreases the heart disease risk. So, you might call these good cholesterol foods: walnuts, almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, pecans or pistachios. One ounce per day is the recommended intake, unless, of course, you are allergic to nuts.

Another thing you can try is replacing your coffee or soda with green tea. Green tea has many benefits related with health, and one of them is its LDL lowering capability. If you can’t stand the original taste of green tea, don’t use processed sugar. Use honey or raw cane sugar instead.

Try to add many kinds of antioxidants into your daily diet. Oxidized cholesterol is a potential danger, since they can form plaques. Antioxidants, such as green tea, vegetables and fruits can help prevent cholesterol from oxidizing and turning into dangerous plaques.

If you can’t stop eating meat or poultry, choose lean cuts. If you can’t stop milk or other dairy products, choose reduced fat products made with skim or low-fat milk.

Making the switch from bad to good cholesterol foods may be easier than you think. You just need to make the right choices.