High cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. But you might not even know you have it until a doctor runs a blood test. After all, high cholesterol doesn’t have any specific symptoms that you can feel or see. Yet, nearly 25 million American adults are living with it.
But here’s the good news: There are easy diet and lifestyle steps that may help you manage high cholesterol. And what better time to implement those changes than when you first wake up in the morning? So, we asked heart-health experts their top morning tips to keep cholesterol in check. Here’s what they told us.
1. Power Up with Plants
The one piece of advice that all our experts wholeheartedly recommend is to start your day with plants. Plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds offer a host of cholesterol-busting benefits. For starters, they’re high in cholesterol-lowering fiber, plus they’re packed with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, explains Mary Greene, M.D., a board-certified cardiologist with Manhattan Cardiology in New York City and a contributor to LabFinder.com. At the same time, they’re also naturally low in saturated fat, she says.
That’s not the only way a plant-rich breakfast can help. “Plant sterols and stanols, found in many plant foods, can block the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines,” says Greene. Top sources include vegetable, canola and olive oils and whole grains, especially corn, rye, barley and wheat. You can also get them from avocados (one more reason to love avocado toast!). ,
Eating a fiber-rich, plant-based breakfast also helps stabilize blood sugar, which, in turn, impacts cholesterol levels. “Consistently high blood sugar can raise bad cholesterol levels, which is something we want to avoid,” says Kimberley Rose-Francis, RDN, CDCES, LD, a Florida-based dietitian and diabetes educator in private practice. “The fiber found in plant-based foods helps regulate the body’s use of sugar and can also prevent the absorption of some dietary fats that impact cholesterol levels.”
2. Fill Up on Soluble Fiber
“Including soluble fiber at breakfast is one of the most effective ways to lower LDL cholesterol,” says Veronica Rouse, RD, CDE, owner of The Heart Dietitian. What makes it so special? “Soluble fiber binds to cholesterol particles in the digestive system and helps remove them from the body before they enter the bloodstream,” explains Rouse.
Oats are perhaps the best way to load up on soluble fiber in the morning. These filling whole grains are rich in a unique type of cholesterol-lowering fiber called beta-glucan. It’s so powerful, in fact, the Food and Drug Administration allows food manufacturers to claim that consuming 3 grams of beta-glucan daily may reduce coronary heart disease risk. If you’re wondering how much oatmeal you’ll need to get the job done, that’s just under 1 cup of dry oats.,
If oats aren’t your thing, there are plenty of other soluble fiber–rich foods to choose from. Rouse recommends chia seeds, ground flaxseed and barley since they are easy to incorporate into a variety of breakfast foods. Other good choices include legumes, sweet potatoes, peas, oranges, avocados, apples and pears.
3. Swap in Heart-Healthy Fats
Diets high in animal foods like beef, chicken, pork, seafood, eggs and dairy increase cholesterol, says Tracy Paeschke, M.D., a Colorado-based preventive cardiologist in private practice. So, if you want to positively impact your cholesterol levels, try swapping out saturated fat–rich breakfast foods like bacon, sausage, cream cheese and butter for heart-healthy unsaturated fats. Rouse recommends monounsaturated fats from foods like avocados, almond butter and peanut butter, which can help reduce unfavorable LDL cholesterol while increasing beneficial HDL cholesterol.
If eggs are your go-to breakfast, they can still be compatible with a heart-healthy diet. Just cook them in an oil rich in unsaturated fats, like safflower, grapeseed or olive oil, instead of butter, says Rose-Francis.
4. Get Moving
Starting your day with a healthy breakfast isn’t the only thing you can do for your cholesterol. Physical activity can positively influence cholesterol levels, and strengthen your heart while you’re at it. In fact, research has found that regular exercise can decrease unfavorable LDL cholesterol and fats in the blood, known as triglycerides, while increasing beneficial HDL cholesterol.
How much exercise should you aim for? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise weekly. That might sound like a lot, but broken into smaller increments, it’s just 20 to 25 minutes of physical activity each morning. If you’ve fallen out of the exercise habit or could use some help getting started, our walking plan to help lower cholesterol levels is a great place to begin.
5. Take 10 to Calm Your Mind
While we’re more connected than ever, the constant ping of cellphone and laptop notifications can be overstimulating. No wonder we’re feeling chronically stressed. Trouble is, ongoing stress can take a toll on our heart health since it increases heart rate and blood pressure. It can also prompt our bodies to release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. If that happens once in a while, it’s no big deal. But when it becomes the norm, this hormonal storm may increase cholesterol levels. If that weren’t enough, it may also trigger the urge to stress-eat, which can make it difficult to stick with heart-healthy food choices.
Set the tone for the rest of your day by taking a few minutes in the morning (just 10 is all you need) to practice mindfulness. Before the day’s frenzy takes over, practice deep breathing, meditate, journal, do yoga or quietly sip a cup of tea to ease you into your day.
If you can take your favorite mindfulness practice outside, even better. Fitting in an outdoor morning workout does double duty, lowering your cholesterol and stress levels at the same time. Plus, you’re less likely to skip a workout when you’re tired later on.
The Bottom Line
Making the most of your mornings is important. But there’s no need for a complicated a.m. routine to lower your cholesterol. Small but impactful changes to your morning habits are a sustainable way to improve your cholesterol and heart health in the long run. So, start your day with some light exercise followed by a plant-focused breakfast that’s rich in soluble fiber and contains a little bit of heart-healthy unsaturated fat. Then, before you head out the door, allow yourself a few mindful minutes. It won’t just calm your mind. It will do your heart good as well!
