A Doctor’s Kitchen Prescription for Lowering Cholesterol

If your physician has told you that your cholesterol level is high, chances are you’ve left her office with a prescription in hand for a statin drug like Lipitor or Crestor to get it under control.   However, if you had consulted Dr. John La Puma,  you might have received some recipes instead.  Dr. La Puma is a board-certified internal medicine specialist who happens to be a professionally trained chef  (or a chef who happens to be a doctor).   It’s his interest  and expertise in the intersection of food and medicine that makes his book, Chef MD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine such a valuable resource when you want to know what you should eat when you have a condition like arthritis, allergies or even a common cold.  Here is a list of foods that Dr. La Puma “prescribes” for maintaining a healthy cholesterol level.

• Black Tea
  
• Dark chocolate
• Yogurt
• Cinnamon
• Ground flaxseed
• Rice bran and oat bran
• Barley
• Avocado
• Macadamia nuts
• Hazelnuts
• Sunflower oil and canola oil
• Egg whites

Because of the correlation between declining estrogen and rising cholesterol levels, it’s not unusual for women in their forties and fifties to experience rising cholesterol levels, which can lead to heart disease later in life.   If you haven’t hit the danger zone yet and you want to reverse this trend, diet and exercise could help. Of course, if your physician has recommended prescription drug therapy, it would be wise to add exercise and a diet rich in these foods to your regimen.  It could reduce the amount of time that a statin drug is necessary.