Lower Your Cholesterol With These 7 Smoothie Recipes
Looking for effective, natural ways to lower your cholesterol levels?
As you might already know, fruit and vegetables are known to be of major help.
But here’s the thing:
If like me, you’re on the go it can be really difficult to fit in enough servings to make a big difference.
There is one easy way around this though…
Making sure that your smoothies contain the kind of ingredients known to reduce LDL cholesterol (the “bad” kind)!
Not sure what “good” and “bad” cholesterol is? Here’s a 3-minute video that solves the mystery:
I’ve researched this a lot and I’m really excited to share ways you can help to lower your own levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol - through the ingredients you use in your smoothies.
Some of these foods will also work to increase “good” HDL cholesterol levels too. How cool is that?
Here’s what you need to know about cholesterol, plus some delicious smoothie recipes to help lower your cholesterol levels.
The Health Effects of High Cholesterol
What happens if the level of "bad" cholesterol in your blood is too high?
You’re more at risk of heart disease, for starters. There are several blood markers that make you more likely to develop heart disease, one of which is cholesterol.
A high amount of cholesterol in your blood can lead to hardened arteries, which can become narrower and restrict the flow of blood to the heart.
This in turn affects the amount of oxygen that can reach the heart. Heart attacks occur if it gets completely cut off.
There aren’t any obvious symptoms for high cholesterol so you won’t necessarily know if you’re affected by it.
That’s why you need to refer to your blood tests. A total cholesterol level of 200-239 mg/dL is deemed to be borderline high and anything above that is classed as high.
For LDL cholesterol, a level between 130 and 159 mg/dL is considered borderline high.
Here’s the good news… you can reduce your risk factor for developing heart disease by lowering your cholesterol levels - and this can be done through the foods you eat.
Foods That Can Reduce Cholesterol Levels
Research has shown that eating plenty of fruit and veggies can help to protect against coronary heart disease.
Some foods have been proven to keep cholesterol levels in check so you’ll want to include some of these as ingredients in your smoothies:
#1 - Leafy Green Vegetables
Kale and spinach can both lower cholesterol levels.
They both contain bile acid sequestrants, which have the ability to “bind bile acids and stop them being reabsorbed so they can be excreted from the body. This means that there is less cholesterol in the body.
#2 - Strawberry
Studies have found that cholesterol can be lowered by eating strawberries. In particular, it has shown great potential for reducing oxidative damage to LDL cholesterol (the bad kind), which is a big risk factor for developing heart disease. They can also have an effect on HDL cholesterol levels (the good kind!) too.
More specifically, consuming beverages made from freeze-dried strawberries every day for 8 weeks has been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol in people who have metabolic syndrome. How about that for a great reason to use strawberries in your smoothies!
#3 - Apples
Apple contains pectin, which is a soluble fiber known to lower LDL cholesterol. A study by the University of Florida found that older women who ate apples on a daily basis were able to lower their cholesterol by an impressive 23% over the course of 6 months - along with a small increase in HDL cholesterol.
#4 - Avocado
Studies have shown that the monounsaturated fatty acids in avocado can reduce cholesterol, especially in people who already have excess cholesterol in their blood.
#5 - Chia Seeds
Studies have suggested that if chia seeds are eaten as part of a diet also containing oats, soy protein and nopal, they can help to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol.
More research needs to be done to see if chia seeds can have these type of effects by themselves but they do contain lots of fiber - which has been linked to lower cholesterol levels.
#6 - Spirulina
Spirulina can lower cholesterol levels and has also been shown to indirectly increase HDL cholesterol.
In a small scale study focusing on type 2 diabetics, consuming 2g of spirulina per day led to a reduction in LDL cholesterol.
Consuming more spirulina than this has been shown to have impressive effects too.
#7 - Almonds
Almonds have been shown in studies to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol, even in people who have high cholesterol and diabetes. This is believed to be due to the amount of nutrients they contain including unsaturated fatty acids, fiber, plant protein, magnesium, copper, manganese, calcium and potassium.
Almonds can increase levels of HDL cholesterol in people with coronary heart disease.
You can the benefits of these nuts by blending almond butter in your smoothies or using nut milk as your base liquid.
Be sure to use 100% natural almond butter, without any added sugar. I especially like this brand.
#8 - Oats
Almonds have been shown in studies to reduce levels of LDL cholesterol, even in people who have high cholesterol and diabetes. This is believed to be due to the amount of nutrients they contain including unsaturated fatty acids, fiber, plant protein, magnesium, copper, manganese, calcium and potassium.
Almonds can increase levels of HDL cholesterol in people with coronary heart disease.
You can the benefits of these nuts by blending almond butter in your smoothies or using nut milk as your base liquid.
Be sure to use 100% natural almond butter, without any added sugar. I especially like this brand.
#9 - Yogurt
Some people believe that dairy products aren’t good for cholesterol because of their saturated fat content but studies have suggested that this isn’t actually true.
In fact, they can actually help to reduce your chances of developing cardiovascular disease! This may be because calcium has an ability to impact on the effects of LDL cholesterol.
Probiotics are also a factor, according to research from McGill University. In this study, participants with high cholesterol levels were split into two groups. One group was just a placebo study while the other took probiotics twice a day for 9 weeks. The latter group saw their total cholesterol level drop by 9 per cent, and their LDL cholesterol level by almost 12 per cent after taking the probiotics.
Smoothie Recipes to Lower Cholesterol
I’ve got 7 delicious and super healthy smoothie recipes that give you a great opportunity to enjoy these cholesterol-lowering ingredients:
Cholesterol-Lowering Green Smoothie
This green smoothie recipe contains leafy green veggies, apple and avocado … all of which are proven to have cholesterol reducing benefits.
You can go a step further than this by adding chia seeds and spirulina powder into the smoothie too!
They won’t affect the taste a lot, but would really boost the health benefits of this beverage.
Ingredients
- 2 cups kale (if you’re a green smoothie newbie, substitute spinach for kale)
- 1 apple
- ½ avocado
- ½ cup almond or coconut milk
Optional: 2 tbsp chia seeds and 1 tsp spirulina powder
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the blender, preferably in the list order.
- Blend for roughly 1 minute so that any lumps even out. This will probably be a bit less with higher end blenders.
Apple & Avocado Smoothie
Apple, spinach, chia seeds and avocado all have great potential for reducing cholesterol. Plus the avocado adds a yummy creamy texture to the smoothie.
Ingredients
- 1 apple (cored)
- ¼ avocado (peeled)
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ½ cup almond milk, unsweetened
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to the blender, preferably in the list order.
- Blend for roughly 1 minute so that any lumps even out. This will probably be a bit less with higher end blenders.
Strawberry, Raspberry & Yogurt Smoothie
Berries are known to have great benefits for heart health and strawberries in particular have great potential for lowering cholesterol.
Throw in some bio yogurt and you’ve got yourself an awesome cholesterol lowering smoothie!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups strawberries
- 1 ½ cups raspberries
- 1 spoon natural almond butter
- 1 cup low fat yogurt
- ½ cup almond milk, unsweetened
Instructions
- Wash the strawberries and raspberries before blending and remove strawberry hulls.
- Blend the strawberries, raspberries and yogurt until smooth.
Blueberry Avocado Smoothie
Get your boost of cholesterol busting fatty acids and health promoting antioxidants with this combination!
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- ¼ avocado
- 1 cup coconut water
- Juice of ½ lime
- Raw honey to taste (optional)
- 4 ice cubes
Instructions
Blend everything together until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
Tropical Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- ¼ avocado
- 1 cup pineapple (cubed)
- ½ pear (cored)
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ginger (grated)
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds (soaked for 5 minutes beforehand)
- ½ cup almond milk, unsweetened
Instructions
- Cube the pineapple, core the pear, grate the ginger and soak the chia seeds prior to making the smoothie.
- Put everything in the blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
Green Apple Citrus Twist Smoothie
Here’s another take on the traditional green smoothie, with cholesterol lowering apple and spinach plus a hint of tangy lemon.
Ingredients
- 2 green apples
- ½ organic lemon
- 1 handful or several large leaves of spinach or kale
- ½ cup almond milk, unsweetened
Instructions
Blend all of the ingredients until smooth.
Banana Berry Cholesterol-friendly Smoothie
This delicious smoothie contains kale, almonds and oatmeal for lower cholesterol.
Ingredients
- ½ banana (sliced)
- 1 cup blueberries
- 2 cups kale
- ½ cup cooked oatmeal
- 10 crushed almonds
- ½ cup almond milk, unsweetened
Instructions
Blend all of the ingredients in your blender until smooth and creamy.
I really hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article, and now aware of how smoothies can aid lower your cholesterol levels.
Smoothies can be a great way to pack cholesterol reducing foods into your diet and I’d love to hear which recipes you’ll be trying out, in the comments below.
Please feel free to share the article so more people can learn about delicious smoothie recipes to lower cholesterol!
