10 Ways to Help Boost Your 'Good' Cholesterol

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10 Ways to Help Boost Your 'Good' Cholesterol

Here's another way to help cut your risk of heart disease.

By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD

WebMD Weight Loss Clinic

Published Monday, November 28, 2005.

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

At the risk of sounding like a certain 20-something socialite, HDL is hot!

Recent advances in research have brought more attention to the blood lipid

(or fat) we often call " good " cholesterol.

" Good " cholesterol doesn't refer to the cholesterol we eat in food, but to

the high density lipoprotein cholesterol circulating in our blood. It's one

of the blood fats measured in the lipid panel blood test doctors perform.

And it's the component you want more of, because increasing HDL helps lower

your risk of heart disease.

A recent report from an expert panel of the National Cholesterol Education

Program (NCEP) notes that although LDL or " bad " cholesterol has gotten most

of the attention, there's growing evidence that HDL plays an important role.

Here are a few fast facts about " good " cholesterol from the NCEP panel:

* HDL cholesterol normally makes up 20%-30% of your total blood

cholesterol.

* There's some evidence that HDL helps protect against the accumulation

of plaques (fatty deposits) in the arteries.

* Research suggests that a 1% decrease in HDL cholesterol is linked to a

2%-3% increase in heart disease risk.

* In prospective studies - that is, studies that follow participants for

a certain period to watch for outcomes -- HDL usually proves to be the lipid

risk factor most linked to heart disease risk.

* HDL cholesterol levels are thought to have a genetic factor in some

people.

* Women typically have higher HDL cholesterol levels than men. About a

third of men and about a fifth of women have HDL levels below 40 mg/dL.

(Doctors consider levels of less than 40 mg/dL to be low.)

Researchers from the Netherlands who analyzed 60 studies concluded that the

ratio of total cholesterol to HDL (in which your total cholesterol number is

divided by your HDL number) is a better marker for coronary artery disease

than LDL measurement alone.

" Boosting HDL is the next frontier in heart disease prevention, " says P.K.

Shah, MD, director of cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los

Angeles. Shah says that if the new drugs designed to increase HDL levels

prove effective, they could potentially reduce the number of heart attacks

and strokes by 80% to 90% -- and save millions of lives. HDL-boosting drugs

are now being tested.

How Does HDL Help?

Experts aren't yet sure exactly how HDL cholesterol helps reduce the risk of

heart disease. But a few possibilities have emerged.

The NCEP says that high HDL levels appear to protect against the formation

of plaques in the artery walls (a process called atherogenesis), according

to studies in animals.

Lab studies, meanwhile, suggest that HDL promotes the removal of cholesterol

from cells found in abnormal tissues, or lesions, in the arteries.

" Recent studies indicate that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory

properties of HDL also inhibit atherogenesis, " says the NCEP report.

10 Ways to Increase Good Cholesterol

What many people don't know is that some diet and lifestyle changes may help

to increase " good " cholesterol levels.

Here are some of the contenders:

1. Orange Juice. Drinking three cups of orange juice a day increased HDL

levels by 21% over three weeks, according to a small British study (at 330

calories, that's quite a nutritional commitment). This study could be

highlighting an effect from high-antioxidant fruits and vegetables. Stay

tuned in the years to come.

2. Niacin. There is some evidence niacin (vitamin B3) helps increase HDL.

Poon, MD, chief of cardiology at the Cabrini Medical Center in New

York, says people with low HDL levels might benefit from taking 500

milligrams of niacin each day, building up to 1,000 milligrams a day. But he

warns that supplemental niacin " can have some side effects and is not for

everybody, particularly for people who already have high HDL levels. " He

says anyone taking niacin supplements should be monitored by a doctor. Short

of supplements, many foods contain niacin as well. Here are a few:

Food

Amount of niacin

White-meat chicken, 3.5 oz cooked

13.4 mg

Mackerel, 3.5 oz cooked

10.7 mg

Trout, 3.5 oz, cooked

8.8 mg

Salmon, 3.5 oz cooked

8 mg

Veal, 3.5 oz cooked

about 8 mg (ranges from 6.4-9.3)

Dark-meat chicken, 3.5 oz cooked

7.1 mg

Lamb, 3.5 oz cooked

6.6 mg

White-meat turkey, 3.5 oz cooked

6.2 mg

Ground beef, 3.5 oz cooked

5.3 mg

Peanuts, 1/4 cup

5.3 mg

Pork, 3.5 oz cooked

about 4.8 mg (ranges from 4.1-5.4)

Peanut butter, 2 tablespoons

4.4 mg

Beef steak, 3.5 oz cooked

about 4.1 mg (ranges from 3.6-4.5)

3. Glycemic Load. The glycemic load is basically a ranking of how much a

standard serving of a particular food raises your blood sugar. And as the

glycemic load in your diet goes up, HDL cholesterol appears to go down,

according to a small recent study. Along these lines, the NCEP report

recommends that most of our carbohydrate intake come from whole grains,

vegetables, fruits, and fat-free and low-fat dairy products. These foods

tend to be on the lower end of the glycemic scale.

4. Choosing Better Fats. Replacing saturated fats with monounsaturated fats

can not only help reduce levels of " bad " cholesterol, it may also increase

levels of " good " cholesterol, according to the Food & Fitness Advisor

newsletter from Cornell University's Center for Women's Healthcare.

5. Soy. Add heart health to the list of potential benefits from soy. A

recent analysis found that soy protein, plus the isoflavones found in soy

" raised HDL levels 3%, which could reduce coronary heart disease risk about

5%, " says Mark Messina, PhD, a nationally known soy expert. Messina notes

that soy also may lead to a small reduction in LDL cholesterol and

triglycerides (another type of blood fat), and a possible enhancement in

blood vessel function. Other studies have shown a decrease in LDL

cholesterol (about 3%) and triglycerides (about 6%) with about three

servings of soy a day. That adds up to 1 pound of tofu, or three soy shakes.

6. Enough Time. Make sure you give soy some time. An analysis of 23 studies

on soy found that improvements in HDL cholesterol were only seen in those

studies lasting longer than three months.

7. Alcohol in Moderation. Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol, especially

with meals, appears to do two things to help reduce heart disease risk.

According to researcher Byung-Hong Chung, PhD, it increases HDL cholesterol

levels, and enhances the movement of cholesterol deposits out of cells in

the artery walls.

8. Aerobic exercise. At least 30 minutes on most days of the week is the

exercise prescription that can help raise your HDL, according to many health

care professionals.

9. Stopping smoking. Experts agree that kicking the habit can increase your

HDL numbers a bit, too.

10. Losing weight. Being overweight or obese contributes to low HDL

cholesterol levels, and is listed as one of the causes of low HDL, according

to the NCEP.

Published November 2005.

SOURCES: Environmental Nutrition, December 2005. American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition, 2005; vol 81; February 2005; September 2003; May 2003;

and November 2000. Final Report of the National Cholesterol Education

Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High

Blood Cholesterol in Adults) September 2002. Evidence Report/Technology

Assessment, Health & Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and

Quality, August 2005. Food & Fitness Advisor, Cornell University Center for

Women's Healthcare, September 2002. Prediman K. Shah MD, director of

cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles. Poon, MD,

chief of cardiology, Cabrini Medical Center, New York. Mark Messina, PhD,

adjunct associate professor, Nutrition Department, Loma University;

president, Nutrition Matters. Byung-Hong Chung, PhD, nutrition science

professor emeritus, University of Alabama.