52 MORE CHOLESTEROL LOWERING RECIPES (PART 2)

52 More Recipes to Lower Cholesterol ~ There are so many delicious ways to eat heart healthy! Click to get this fabulous collection.

by Sumptuous Spoonfuls

Welcome to Part 2 of my series of Cholesterol Lowering Recipes! In Part 1, we talked about hot peppers, eggs, nuts, fatty fishes like salmon or tuna, onion & garlic, beans, grass fed butter, grass fed cheese and avocados. I shared 30 delicious recipes (along with tips for making them extra heart healthy) and things you should avoid if you want to lower your cholesterol. I have soooo much more cholesterol lowering deliciousness for you! There’s no reason to get stuck in a food rut or think that your choices are limited–cholesterol lowering foods are many and so varied. Let’s get started … so if, like me, you’ve been wondering:

What else should I eat to lower my cholesterol?

Cruciferous Veggies like Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, Cabbage, Collard Greens or Brussels Sprouts (cruciferous vegetables). Veggies in general are amazing for reducing cholesterol, but cruciferous vegetables are high in fiber and plant sterols, which are awesome for heart health.  Cruciferous veggies are also great at binding to bile acids. The liver produces bile, which is stored by the gallbladder. When we eat, this bile is released by the gallbladder to emulsify, digest, and absorb fats. Cruciferous vegetables bind to those bile acids, causing them to be excreted by the body instead of being reabsorbed. The body must then use cholesterol stores to replace the lost bile acids, resulting in a decrease in cholesterol levels. So eat more broccoli! (and/or cauliflower, kale, cabbage, collard greens and brussels sprouts)

Recipe suggestions:

Broccoli

Roasted Broccoli - Cooking with Mary & Friends

Cauliflower

Creole Shrimp with Cheesy Cauliflower Grits ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #lowcarb #healthy #soulfood #recipe

  • Creole Shrimp & Cheesy Cauliflower Grits. Use grass fed butter and cheeses in this recipe to get more Vitamin K2 in your diet along with the capsaicin and the cruciferous cauliflower advantage. (BTW, if you’re worried about eating shrimp on a low cholesterol diet, don’t be. Shrimp was once thought to be bad since it contains cholesterol, but since then shrimp has actually been shown to raise your HDL (good) cholesterol.)
  • Garlic Rosemary Roasted Cauliflower. A simple preparation that’s totally addictive and fabulous for protecting your heart health.
  • Buffalo Cauliflower Dip. A heart healthy take on buffalo chicken dip! Take care to watch for hydrogenated vegetable oil if you’re using store-bought ranch dressing in this recipe–even a tiny bit of hydrogenated vegetable oil can be horrible for your cholesterol levels.

Buffalo Cauliflower Dip - An Affair from the Heart

  • Cauliflower Hummus. Both beans and cruciferous cauliflower pair up to make this hummus extra heart healthy.
  • Kung Pao Cauliflower. Serve over brown rice to add more fiber to this healthy version of a Chinese favorite.

Kung Pao Cauliflower | Sumptuous Spoonfuls #Chinese #cauliflower #recipe

Kale

Lemon Kale Hummus from the Gluten Free Gathering

Cabbage

cabbage roll soup from ChinDeep

  • Cabbage Roll Soup from ChinDeep. The onion, tomatoes, cabbage, carrot and ginger in this soup are awesome for lowering cholesterol. Use grass fed ground beef and  pork to limit the saturated fat.
  • Cabbage Roll Soup. Another winning version of this cholesterol lowering soup from An Affair from the Heart. Again, use grass fed ground beef for extra omega 3s.
  • Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Skillet. This easy skillet uses brown rice for extra fiber! Use extra lean or grass fed ground beef to lower the saturated fat.
  • Irish Cabbage & Potato Soup with Ham. Use low-fat ham and grass fed cheese (like Dubliner or Skellig from Kerrygold) to make this soup extra heart healthy.
  • Tropical Pineapple Mango Coleslaw. This is a slaw like no slaw you’ve ever had before. It’s tropical, fruity, crunchy, with hints of pectin-rich orange, pineapple, mango, mint and cilantro and crunchy, salty roasted macadamias on top.
  • Warm Roasted Cabbage Salad. Use grass fed cheese like Kerrygold aged cheddar or sweet cheddar (Skellig) to add some cholesterol fighting vitamin K2 to this winter salad.
  • Deconstructed Egg Rolls. All the flavor of an egg roll without all the work (or the fat from frying the egg rolls)! Use low fat or grass fed ground beef or turkey and serve over brown rice or quinoa for extra cholesterol lowering fiber.

deconstructed egg rolls - Cooking with Mary & Friends

Brussels Sprouts

Sriracha Brussels Sprouts Poppers ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #healthy #hot #appetizer #recipe

Air Fryer Brussels Sprouts

Collard Greens

Being a northerner, I don’t have any collard green recipes, so my friends Mary and Alice helped me out and shared some of theirs! Collard greens are said to be one of the most nutritious of the cruciferous veggies and people just love them.

Bradford Collard Salad - Cooking with Mary & Friends

Strawberries and Blueberries

According to research published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, eating strawberries can significantly reduce total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Both strawberries and blueberries are rich in anthocyanins that lower blood pressure, and they make blood vessels more elastic.

Suggested recipes:

Chocolate Mascarpone Truffle Stuffed Strawberries with Pistachios ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #chocolate #strawberry #recipe

Strawberry Almond Wild Violet Salad ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #salad #recipe

Apples and Pears contain polyphenols, fiber, and phytosterols, all of which can help lower your cholesterol levels. They are also full of pectin, which is amazing for digestion and lowering cholesterol. As a soluble fiber, pectin works by binding to fatty substances in the digestive tract, including cholesterol and toxins, and promotes their elimination. This means that pectin benefits the body’s detoxifying capabilities, helps regulate the body’s use of sugars and cholesterol, and improves gut and digestive health.

Suggested recipes:

Bourbon Apples ~ tender apples bathing in a cinnamon bourbon butter sauce. Amazing on French toast, pancakes or ice cream.

Crunchy Top Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

Citrus fruits

Citrus fruits are naturally high in pectin. I’ve already talked about the powerful cholesterol-fighting benefits of pectin, but the soluble fiber and flavonoids in citrus fruits may also improve cholesterol levels by raising “good” HDL cholesterol and lowering “bad” LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

Asian Orange Chicken Brussel Sprouts Salad ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #chinese #chicken #salad #recipe

Suggested recipes:

Light Lavender Mint Lemonade ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #skinny #refreshing #lemonade #recipe

Dark Chocolate or Cocoa

The cocoa bean is rich in a class of plant nutrients called flavonoids. In addition to having antioxidant qualities, research shows that flavanols have other potential influences on vascular health, such as lowering blood pressure, improving blood flow to the brain and heart, and making blood platelets less sticky and able to clot. Cocoa powder has been shown to lower LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) in your bloodstream. For cholesterol-lowering benefits, make sure you choose dark chocolate that is 70% or higher in cocoa, or stick to using cocoa powder.

Suggested recipes:

  • Cherry Chocolate Nutty Smoothie  from Ally’s Kitchen – Nuts, dark cherries, cocoa, cinnamon, flax and dates make a smoothie bursting with chocolate flavor with epic heart protection.
  • 2-Minute Decadent Dark Chocolate Oatmeal – chocolate for breakfast is amazing! This oatmeal uses cholesterol-lowering cocoa powder to chocolatize it.
  • Chocolate Fruit & Nut Energy Bytes – fruit and nuts paired with dark chocolate for a little energy boosting treat that’s good for your cholesterol.
  • Blueberry Chocolate Smoothie from Moore or Less Cooking – cholesterol busting blueberries AND chocolate, this heart-friendly smoothie is a great way to start your day.
  • Dark Chocolate Berry Banana Bread – full of berries, whole grains and dark cocoa, this bread is both delicious and good for your heart. Use a good dark cocoa and add some dark chocolate chips for an extra dose of dark chocolate goodness.

Dark Chocolate Banana Berry Bread ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #chocolate #banana bread #recipe

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are high in fiber and protein and low in refined carbohydrates and saturated fat, plus mushrooms contain:

  • Beta-glucan, a form of soluble fiber, are found in various concentrations in mushrooms. It is thought that beta-glucan may interfere with the absorption of cholesterol into the bloodstream.
  • Eritadenine is thought to lower lipid levels by modifying the way certain lipids are made in the liver.
  • Mevinolin, another ingredient found in some mushrooms, functions by inhibiting HMG CoA reductase, a key enzyme used to make cholesterol in the body.

Recipe suggestions:

Gorgonzola Guacamole Stuffed Mushrooms ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #bluecheese #guacamole #mushrooms #appetizer #gameday #recipe

Creamy Four Mushroom Bisque ~ Sumptuous Spoonfuls #mushroom #soup #recipe