When it comes to cholesterol, we’ve been drastically misled throughout the years.

Eggs were, for example, considered a complete no-no until recently. Whereas recent studies have proven the cholesterol in eggs actually improves your heart health (in moderation).

Many vegetable oils, on the other hand, were praised in the 80s and 90s as magical heart health substances (and still recommended by many doctors). Now, it’s a fact that they’re high in omega-6 fatty acids, which harm your arteries.

Cholesterol performs some essential health functions. Without it, you would be dead. The problem is that most people’s diets either contain too much of it, or too many foods that trigger their livers to make too much of the bad cholesterol.

Cholesterol travels through your bloodstream in parcels called lipoproteins.

HDL cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein, is known as the good cholesterol. These parcels carry cholesterol towards your liver to be broken down and expelled from your body if there is too much to meet your health needs.

LDL cholesterol, or low-density lipoprotein, is the bad cholesterol. It delivers cholesterol to all cells in your body. However, if there is too much of it, it simply hangs around your blood stream and builds up in your arteries.

Your goal should be to maximize your HDL and minimize your LDL cholesterol. These foods might help:

1. Soluble fiber is not digestible. When it passes through your intestines, it binds to cholesterol and drags it straight out of your body before it can be absorbed. Eat some oats or barley for breakfast topped with blueberries, a bean salad for lunch, apples as snacks, and some asparagus, Brussels sprouts, or turnips for supper.

2. Your body wants to absorb fat from your intestines. If you eat enough foods that contain phytosterols (plant cholesterol), it will absorb this fat from plants rather than from trans-fats and fatty meat and dairy. Phytosterol is HDL cholesterol, while the latter fats are LDL cholesterol. Eat plenty of unrefined vegetable oils, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, lettuce, capers, beet greens, cucumbers, raw asparagus and cauliflower.

3. Omega-3 fatty acids increase HDL cholesterol while lowering LDL cholesterol. Flaxseeds and flaxseed oils are the best plant sources, while the Mayo Clinic recommends fish like mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, salmon, and halibut as the best animal sources.

4. Nuts have several benefits. They contain plenty of healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, fiber, plant proteins, minerals, plant cholesterol, and phytochemicals, all thought to have cholesterol-lowering effects. Scientists suspect that they also contain other healthy chemicals not yet been identified. Macadamias, pecans, almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, and walnuts are especially good.

5. Lycopene, a carotenoid found in tomatoes, is known to lower LDL cholesterol. Your body seems to absorb more of it when the tomatoes are cooked or processed, so go for lots of tomato sauce, tomato juice, and cooked tomatoes in pastas and stews.

6. Research has proven that the catechins that occur in green and black tea can lower LDL and total cholesterol levels. Now you have a great excuse for a long tea break.

7. Isoflavones are substances found in soy that give soy products their cholesterol-lowering effects. Eat plenty of edamame, the tasty green soybeans that you can eat as a snack or include in a large variety of dishes.

These are just a few suggestions. Lowering your overall cholesterol level and most importantly clearing out clogged arteries requires a strong strategy.

It’s not hard to do and you don’t have to make huge lifestyle changes. But you must have a solid plan and follow it.

Here is the step-by-step strategy I used to completely clear our my 95% clogged heart arteries and get my cholesterol under control…