TO RAISE YOUR HDLs:

Lifestyle Changes

Exercise: Although not everyone can run, burning between 1,200 and 1,500 calories each week doing aerobic exercise can have dramatic results. Not only is exercising a wonderful way to keep your heart healthy, it also helps lose weight, which is an additional benefit. By losing 10 pounds of excess weight, according to Kokkinos, "That's where you see significant increases in your HDL cholesterol."

Avoid Trans Fatty Acids: Avoid trans fatty acid containing foods such as French fries, cookies, cakes and many of the fried fast foods.

Minimize Carbohydrates: Minimize carbohydrates by avoiding sugar, flour, potatoes and white rice. Studies prove that HDL level drops dramatically when blood sugar is spiked by carbohydrates.

Avoid Cholesterol Foods: Minimize the food sources of cholesterol such as egg yolk, liver, kidney, brains, etc.

HDL or Good Cholesterol Foods

Red Wine: Drinking red wine is yet another option as long as it is consumed within reason. "There are antioxidants contained in red wines such as cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, and pinot noir, that help slow down the oxidation of HDL and LDL cholesterol", according to Vincent Rifici of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. What was shown is not that the HDL was higher than those not drinking, but that the HDL contained higher levels of several types of blood fats, thus giving the positive result. There is still a lot more research required but this could prove to be a wonderful option.

Orange Juice: There was one specific study conducted at the University of Western Ontario in Canada where 25 students drank orange juice every day for four week. The results were amazing. HDL was raised an astounding 21%. The individual leading this study, Elzbieta Kurowska, stated this increase might have been caused by the flavonoid in the orange juice.

Beans: Kidney and red beans are a wonderful choice for raising HDL. These foods are low-glycemic carbohydrates that during digestion do not cause insulin spikes. Studies conducted where people ate foods rich in low-glycemic carbohydrate measure with the highest level of HDL.

Fish: Fish eaten several times a week can also be beneficial in raising HDL since it contains omega-3 fatty acids. This fish would include sardines, salmon, sea bass, herring, etc. If you do not like to eat fish, fish oil can be used as a supplement although the benefit takes much longer.

Olive Oil: Use oils higher in mono-unsaturated fats, such as olive oil or canola oil. Including 1-2 teaspoons of olive or canola oil with each meal would be sufficient.

Oat bran: Lowers cholesterol and LDL and raises HDL. In one study, two ounces of oat bran per day was associated with a 16% lowering of LDL and, after 3 months, an increase in HDL of as much as 15% (JAMA. 1991. 285. 1833-1839).

Onions: Some research suggests that half of raw onion/day may raise HDL as much as 30%.

Soy Products: A 1995 meta-analysis of 38 studies of soy confirmed that it lowers total cholesterol, LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and triglycerides, and raises HDL ("good") cholesterol.