1. Cholesterol Levels Slideshow Pictures
2. Lower Cholesterol Slideshow: Avoid Heart Disease
3. Take the Cholesterol Quiz

Medical Author:

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

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Medical Editor:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Lower cholesterol levels should start at the grocery store. Read food labels and buy foods low in saturated fat and low in cholesterol (cholesterol itself is found in some foods, and this type of cholesterol is different from blood cholesterol).

To help you know what to look for when grocery shopping, use this shopping list from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:

• Breads such as whole wheat, rye, pumpernickel, or white
• Soft tortillas, corn or whole wheat
• Hot and cold cereals except granola or muesli
• Rice (white, brown, wild, basmati, or jasmine)
• Grains (bulgur, couscous, quinoa, barley, hominy, millet)
• Fruits: Any fresh, canned, dried, or frozen without added sugar
• Vegetables: Any fresh, frozen, or (low salt) canned without cream or cheese sauce
• Fresh or frozen juices, without added sugar
• Fat-free or 1% milk
• Cheese (with 3 grams of fat or less per serving)
• Low fat or nonfat yogurt
• Lean cuts of meat (eye of round beef, top round, sirloin, pork tenderloin)
• Lean or extra lean ground beef
• Chicken or turkey, white or light meat (remove skin)
• Fish (most white meat fish is very low in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol)
• Tuna, light meat canned in water
• Peanut butter, reduced fat
• Eggs, egg whites, egg substitutes
• Low-fat cookies or angel food cake
• Low fat frozen yogurt, sorbet, sherbet
• Popcorn without butter or oil, pretzels, baked tortilla chips
• Nuts such as walnuts, pecans, and macadamia nuts
• Margarine (soft, diet, tub, or liquid)
• Vegetable oil (canola, olive, corn, peanut, sunflower)
• Non-stick cooking spray
• Sparkling water, tea, lemonade

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