🔬 Harvard Study Reveals 4 Foods Proven To Lower Your Cholesterol By 17% (2024)

"YES - I Want Healthy Cholesterol Levels"

Today I’m going to reveal four main foods that are clinically proven in multiple clinical studies, including a Harvard study1, to improve your heart health which resulted in a decrease of “bad” LDL cholesterol by 17%.

Additional improvements were seen in:

  • lowering of triglycerides (which are the most common fat types in the human body)
  • blood pressure
  • C-reactive protein (which is a marker of inflammation)

This was examined in both randomized and non-randomized controlled trials, so they took into account multiple variables.

In fact, these four foods are so effective that several government organizations have recognized and are utilizing the benefits of this specific diet which includes these foods.

And the best type of diet which includes these 4 food types are “plant-based” diets.

However, if you don’t want to go 100% plant-based, that’s fine. You can still reap the benefits by simply adding in these 4 food types into your current diet.

Nuts

Healthy fats in nuts are very healthy, and I think almonds, macadamia, and walnuts are best. Ideally, you would soak them in water for 8 hours before eating, to improve digestion.

Nuts

Plant Proteins

This was from plant proteins obtained either from soy-based foods such as tofu, soy milk, or other soy-based meat substitutes.

As you may know from previous articles I’m not a fan of soy because it lowers thyroid and testosterone while increasing estrogens.

Chickpeas

A better source of plant proteins would be from beans, peas, chickpeas, or lentils. Remember that you can also have these plant proteins in powder form – such as pea and rice protein.

Fiber

The study used primarily soluble fiber, such as “oats, barley, psyllium, eggplant, okra, apples, oranges, and berries”.

Okra

Plant Sterols

Certain foods containing plant sterols can also help lower “bad”, LDL cholesterol. These are “cholesterol-like” compounds that can be found in certain fruits, vegetables, nuts, and cereals.

Sterols

Unfortunately, you’ll have to eat a LOT of these foods to see any positive benefits.

However, an easier and more effective method is to simply take supplements containing a combination of BOTH Plant Sterols and Plant Stanols which can help lower cholesterol by 10% to 14%.2

3 Additional Foods

Numerous studies have also shown that 3 additional foods are also very beneficial. Primarily when taken in a supplemental “extract” form, which is far more concentrated and effective than the food source:

  • Policosanol2 – which is a natural supplement derived from sugarcane.
  • Artichoke Leaf Extract3 – which has numerous studies going back to the early 1930s
  • Red Yeast Rice Extract5,6 – which has been safely used in China for over 2000 years

My Parents & Their Results

What’s interesting is that in 1998, I used a modified version of this diet with my parents to help lower their cholesterol. This is because I wanted to get them off of the statin cholesterol-lowering drugs, which had a lot of negative side effects.

The results were good, but not enough. But, we needed more benefits and that’s when I added in the 3 herbal supplements I mentioned earlier, in addition to a couple more and then they saw a major improvement in only 30 days.

And you can get the details of what they used by clicking this link!

Summary

Plant-based diets have numerous health benefits, especially for your heart. However, if you don’t want to go 100% plant-based, that’s fine. Just make sure your diet also contains some:

  • Nuts
  • Plant-Based Proteins
  • Fiber
  • Plant Sterols

Additional benefits can be seen even faster when adding in:

  • Policosanol
  • Artichoke Leaf Extract
  • Red Yeast Rice Extract

And as a reminder, you can see exactly how my parents used this same formula to lower their cholesterol in just 30 days – naturally and I got them OFF of the harmful medications as well.

  1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/what-foods-are-included-in-the-portfolio-diet
  2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14506834.1
  3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18562776.1
  4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22113535
  5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20636227
  6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12881451