Cholesterol Warriors - Foods that fight cholesterol!

It is not a good thing if you have high cholesterol, we all know that. But we all make mistakes. And the good thing is, Mother Nature, like all mothers, forgives many of our mistakes and even helps us solve our problems. This means that there are plenty of natural ways to reduce blood cholesterol without resorting to drugs. They do work of course, but they may have side effects, and anyways, nature cures are always better in the long run.

First and foremost is of course exercise. Right, we're talking about foods, but exercise acts as a catalyst and speeds up the whole process. You don't have to do any fancy exercise or hard gymming either. A brisk walk every morning or evening is more than enough.

Coming to foods then, one of the best cholesterol warriors is fiber. And oats are a rich source of fiber. You don't need to worry about the technicals; just know that oatmeal has fibred that reduces cholesterol absorption in the intestines. A daily intake of 5 to 10 grams of this soluble fiber is enough to do its thing, and 2 bowls of oatmeal or oat bran for breakfast should provide you all that you need. If you find plain oats boring, you can always add bananas or other fruits. In fact, this very fiber is also found in pears, apples, prunes, Brussels sprouts and kidney beans.

Our next set of cholesterol fighters are crazy - seriously - they're NUTS :-) Walnuts and almonds have been shown to help control cholesterol levels to a significant extent. They contain polyunsaturated fatty acids which also help keep the blood vessels healthy. But since nuts are high calorie foods, you shouldn't take too much. Just add a handful of almonds or walnuts in your salad, and you'll be doing a favor to yourselves, the cows (no cheese), and the chicken (no dead chicken!)

Another anti-cholesterol fruit that is gaining immense popularity is the Brazilian Acai berry. It has a great balance of carbohydrates, fibers, vitamins and antioxidants, not to mention being very effective in lowering cholesterol levels. Some even claim that it works better than commercial drugs, but we don't know how true that statement is. What we do know however is that the Acai berry not only helps in lowering cholesterol, but also provides balanced nutrition and helps lose weight.