Improve your diet and exercise. Oatmeal and oat bran Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which reduces your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the bad cholesterol. Soluble fiber is also found in such foods as kidney beans, apples, pears, barley, and prunes. Ten grams or more of soluble fiber a day decreases your total and LDL cholesterol. Eating 1 1/2 cups of cooked oatmeal provides 6 grams of fiber. If you add fruit, such as bananas, you ll add about 4 more grams of fiber. To mix it up a little, try steel-cut oatmeal or cold cereal made with oatmeal or oat bran. Walnuts, almonds and more Studies have shown that walnuts can significantly reduce blood cholesterol. Rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, walnuts also help keep blood vessels healthy and elastic. Almonds appear to have a similar effect, resulting in a marked improvement within just four weeks. A cholesterol-lowering diet in which 20 percent of the calories come from walnuts may reduce LDL cholesterol by as much as 12 percent. But all nuts are high in calories, so a handful will do. As with any food, eating too much can cause weight gain. Fish and omega-3 fatty acids Research has supported the cholesterol-lowering benefits of eating fatty fish because of its high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids also help the heart in other ways such as reducing blood pressure and the risk of blood clots. Doctors recommend eating at least two servings of fish a week. The highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids are in mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna and salmon. If you don t like fish, you can also get omega-3 fatty acids from foods like ground flaxseed or canola oil. Olive oil Olive oil contains a potent mix of antioxidants that can lower your bad (LDL) cholesterol but leave your good (HDL) cholesterol untouched. The Food and Drug Administration recommends using about 2 tablespoons of olive oil a day to get its heart-healthy benefits. To add olive oil to your diet, you can saute vegetables in it, add it to a marinade, or mix it with vinegar as a salad dressing. You can also use olive oil as a substitute for butter when basting meat. Consider your diet first Before you make other changes to your diet, think about cutting back on the types and amounts of fats you eat, which can raise your cholesterol. That way, you ll improve your cholesterol levels and health overall. When cutting fat from your diet, focus on saturated and trans fats. Saturated fats, like those in meat and some oils, raise your total cholesterol. Trans fats, which are sometimes used to make store-bought cookies, crackers and cakes, are particularly bad for your cholesterol levels because they raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the bad cholesterol and lower high-density lipoprotein (HDL), good cholesterol. You should try to limit the number of calories you eat daily to less than 10 percent from saturated fat, and eliminate as many trans fats from your diet as possible. And dont forget exercise as part of the equation.