in the last video we looked at foods that raise your cholesterol. so for most
of us, just avoiding those should get your blood cholesterol levels
spit-shining but some people need an extra boost, even if they're eating super
clean they're not quite where they want to be so today we're gonna look at foods
that actually lower your cholesterol these are like nature's
cholesterol-lowering medicine except they're super cheap, they taste amazing
and no bad side effects. what else can we ask for? it was partly thanks to these
foods that I was able to lower my cholesterol to ideal levels where my
risk of heart disease is very, very low. heart disease is the number one cause of
death in our society so when you know you're virtually immune to it that's not
a bad deal and the good news is anybody can do it, you can do it if you want. so
let's get right into it what are these magical foods that lower
your cholesterol? is it pixie dust? is it unicorn tears? no, none of that. they're
actually some of the cheapest and most common foods you can find in your
neighborhood store. see if you can guess which of the following have been shown
to lower cholesterol: oatmeal, flaxseed, soy, all of the above? none of the above?
okay maybe I gave it away there. or did I? let's find out. there are three key
dietary components that have been shown to lower cholesterol. it's basically like
the Three Musketeers except instead of protecting the king they protect your
arteries and instead of Renaissance France it takes place right in your
kitchen. I think I over explained that analogy. the first musketeer, the first
dietary key to lowering our cholesterol is soluble fiber. there are different
types of fiber and the soluble fraction also known as viscous fiber seems to be
particularly powerful for this cholesterol-lowering effect. so how can
we get enough soluble fiber in our diet? here's an example. if you have some
oatmeal in the morning, some beans and avocado at lunch,
orange for dessert, and some soybeans, edamame later at dinner you're already
well into the recommended range of soluble fiber to get that
cholesterol-lowering. I'm not saying that's all you can eat, you're probably
gonna have a lot more food, that's not enough food for a day, but those foods
alone already give you enough soluble fiber to get that cholesterol-lowering
effect. maybe you hate some of those foods. maybe you hate all of them. not a
problem. there's plenty of options. most whole
grains are great for soluble fiber. we covered oatmeal before and how it can
lower your cholesterol but it's not the only one
barley is another great option if you're not gluten intolerant. most legumes, things
like black beans, lima beans, chickpeas, soy beans, your green vegetables like
asparagus, collards, broccoli, avocado also other veggies in general like eggplant,
okra, beets, carrots, sweet potato, yams and many fruits like orange, apple,
blackberries and finally nuts and seeds like pistachios and flax seeds. all of
those foods are rich in soluble fiber so there's no lack of choice. ok time out.
how do we know this stuff actually works? where did I get the soluble fiber story
and these exact numbers? did I just pluck this out of thin air?
why should you pay any attention to this? it's been directly shown in scientific
studies that eating soluble fiber-rich foods lowers cholesterol. we really can't
go by gurus telling us to eat this that and the other for god knows what reason and
anecdotal evidence, things like my neighbor did this, my uncle said that
that worked, I mean who knows what that means, it's very hard to pin down. it's
really not that reliable. the truth is controlling our cholesterol levels is
life and death so we gotta go straight to the strongest source of information
we have and that's the scientific evidence. all the studies that were
researched, where I pulled this information from, are linked in the
description below, you can check them out for yourself if you want. so the whole
point of these videos is to take all that literature, all that information and
squeeze out the juice, just the actionable, simple info you need to go to
the store, get the foods you need, put them on your plate and get those results,
and get that cholesterol down. alright continuing with the three musketeers. no,
not those, the three musketeers of low cholesterol. the second key is plant
protein. we've covered this in the past, protein
is in all plants. these studies especially highlight soy for this
cholesterol-lowering effect. so how do you get enough plant protein? do you need
to take protein powders, do you need to stuff your face with tofu all day long?
no. cup of oatmeal has six grams, if you have it with soy milk for example that's
another 4, cup of beans at lunch, another 15, some tempeh for dinner,
you're basically there, handful of almonds, boom, done. don't like some of
those foods? don't want to eat them? no problem
plenty of options. edamame is fantastic as well, 17 grams of protein per cup and
tofu has 20 grams per cup so you see it adds up very quickly protein is in all
plants so it's not hard to reach those recommended amounts. now,
one thing you may have picked up on and that actually makes all of this easier
is these components, the Three Musketeers,
they actually overlap. the same foods that give you the soluble fiber also
give you plant protein. the beans, the oats, the broccoli, etc so you're killing
several birds with one stone. it really is one for all and all for one
alright what's the third musketeer? the third musketeer
is nuts. as in delicious, edible nuts. almonds, pistachios, walnuts etc. these
studies suggest about a handful or two of nuts a day for this
cholesterol-lowering effect. easy and delicious. why nuts? well, they contain
the soluble fiber, they contain the plant protein but they also contain
plant sterols and those are critical for this cholesterol-lowering effect
plant sterols or phytosterols as they are also known are chemical cousins of
cholesterol so they can compete with cholesterol for absorption in our gut
almost like they're playing a game of dancing chairs. plant sterols steal some
of the chairs from cholesterol so cholesterol is left standing. standing in
our gut. as in, not absorbed. so... jackpot. another great source of phytosterols are
seeds. sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, flax seeds etc. an easy way to incorporate
seeds into your diet is to mix them in your oatmeal. another easy one is put
some tahini on your salad or on your beans which also doubles as a dressing
so those are the three musketeers of cholesterol-lowering as per these
studies, the soluble fiber, the plant protein and the nuts and seeds
containing those phytosterols. now, how much can you expect
your cholesterol to drop by going through all this and incorporating all these
foods into your diet? is this even worth it?
we're gonna look at exact numbers in a second, but first, I got two more great
foods for you. kind of a little bonus for watching the video until the end, if you
will. the three musketeers had d'Artagnan and so does this video. so the other two
foods I want to highlight are turmeric and Amla and both have been shown to
lower cholesterol. we've covered these briefly in previous videos, turmeric you
can find in any grocery store in the spice aisle, it's an orange powder, half a
teaspoon of that stuff on your beans, on your salad, that's all you need
Amla is also sold as a powder, you can buy it online, it is bitter so maybe
mix it with fruit in a smoothie or something. so those are your best friends
as far as cholesterol-lowering. play with those foods, try to incorporate them into
your diet and see how your blood work changes. okay before we wrap up
let's summarize these two videos on cholesterol-lowering real quick. if you
want to lower your cholesterol the first step is to minimize or avoid the three
problem nutrients, the dreaded triad: dietary cholesterol, saturated fat and
trans fats. that means meats, red or white, processed dairy like cheese and butter,
fatty fish as well as processed foods including some oils. so that's step 1,
avoid the problem foods. and that'll be enough for most people. if it isn't, then
you hit it with step 2, the three musketeers. soluble fiber, plant protein
and nuts and seeds with those phytosterols. so in practice this
two-step process means you replace some of the meats with plant protein like
beans, lentils and soybeans and some oils with less saturated oils like olive oil
or even better with unprocessed foods like walnuts, flax seed, avocados etc. last
but not least let's talk numbers. show me the numbers, right? how much improvement
exactly can you expect? avoiding the three problem nutrients and bringing in
the three musketeers for some extra boost can lead to a 35% reduction
average in your bad cholesterol, the LDL fraction. that's a really significant
number. that means if your LDL is 150, which is high, you'd come down to 97,
which is considered normal. that effect size is similar to what you get with
drugs but you get it just with the foods, no pills, no bad secondary effects and
you keep the money in your pocket. of course there's always some individual
variation so maybe you'll get a little bit smaller effect or maybe you'll get a
bigger effect so let me know your experience
and how these foods work for you. now some people may still benefit from a
drug even after doing all of this depending on your genetics but for most
of us, drugs can be avoided just by focusing on the healthy foods that we
covered. so basically it's about loving the foods that love us back. I'll see you
on the next one