5 Breakfast Foods You Should Swap ASAP To Lower High Cholesterol

What's your favorite breakfast food? A stack of hot pancakes drizzled with butter and syrup? Perhaps you prefer a savory dish like a Greek omelet filled with olives, spinach, feta cheese, and tomatoes. Some people may want to skip breakfast, particularly if they're rushed in the morning.

A healthy breakfast can help stabilize your blood sugar and keep you from snacking on less-healthy temptations before lunch. Skipping breakfast may help you shed a pound or two, but it may not be wise if you have high cholesterol. A 2014 study in the Journal of Nutritional Science found that breakfast skippers had higher cholesterol levels after four weeks compared to people who ate oatmeal or cornflakes for breakfast.

Many people believe that eggs cause high cholesterol because a large egg has 186 milligrams of cholesterol. The American Heart Association says dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol aren't the same thing, and what can be wrecking your heart health are foods high in saturated fat, sugar, and sodium while being low in fiber. Some of these foods find their way next to eggs on your breakfast plate.

Some days you may be craving a little grease on your plate, so you plop a few strips of bacon next to your eggs. Sausage is also a popular favorite with eggs, and some people enjoy scrapple for breakfast. Processed meats are a no-no if you have high cholesterol. Three slices of bacon have more fat than protein, and more than a third of the fat is saturated fat. Bacon also is high in sodium, which isn't good for your blood pressure. A 2019 article in Nutrients found that a diet high in processed meats is linked to a 22% higher risk of high cholesterol and a 19% risk of high LDL cholesterol. Eggs and other meats didn't have the same effect on cholesterol.

Rather than filling your plate with these processed meats, swap in some heart-healthy beans. A cup of black beans has more protein than those three slices of bacon without all the fat. Beans are noted for their fiber, and the soluble fiber will reduce how much cholesterol is absorbed in your bloodstream. The fiber will also make you feel full for hours.

Potatoes are good sources of vitamins and minerals, and a baked potato is free from cholesterol and fat. If you fry your potatoes in oil, those potatoes could be contributing to your high cholesterol. Sure, frying potatoes gives them that delicious golden brown crust, but the oil you choose to cook your potatoes can be high in saturated fat.

Coconut oil is believed to be a healthy cooking alternative, but a tablespoon has more than 11 grams of saturated fat. According to a 2020 meta-analysis in Circulation that pooled 16 clinical trials, coconut oil significantly raises LDL cholesterol by 10 points and HDL cholesterol by 4 points compared with nontropical oils. Advocates of coconut oil say there are healthy medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) that boost your healthy cholesterol, but the Mayo Clinic says that there aren't enough MCTs in coconut oil to benefit your health. If you love your hash browns or other fried potatoes, saute them in olive or avocado oil.

Dairy such as cheese, milk, and butter may also affect your cholesterol levels. That innocent tablespoon of butter on your toast adds more than 7 grams of saturated fat to your menu. A cup of whole milk isn't too bad with a little more than 4 grams, plus milk provides essential nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, and protein. Cheese provides so much of the savory goodness of a hearty omelet, but keep an eye on the saturated fat. Cheddar cheese can have 6 grams of saturated fat per ¼ cup, but it also gives you protein, calcium, and B vitamins.

The research on the relationship between full-fat dairy and cholesterol is tricky. If you want to lower your cholesterol, the American Heart Association suggests a limit of saturated fat to 6% of your total calories for the day. That may restrict your intake to less than 15 grams of saturated fat, depending on how many calories you eat. However, there's something about dairy that's different, according to a 2016 review in Advances in Nutrition. The nutrients in dairy products appear to counteract the potential negative effects of their saturated fat.

A slice of toast is the perfect sidekick to a plate of scrambled eggs — but go for whole grain bread instead of white. White bread doesn't have much fat – less than a gram per slice depending on your brand, but the refined flour strips away nutrients such as iron, B vitamins, and fiber. Because of this, your body digests white bread quickly, almost like sugar, which can trigger inflammation and raise LDL ("bad") cholesterol. This is especially concerning for people with diabetes, who may also struggle with cholesterol management.

Whole grain bread, on the other hand, is a much better option. It contains about twice the protein and three times the fiber of white bread, meaning it digests more slowly and keeps your blood sugar stable. According to a 2015 meta-analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating more whole grains can lower LDL cholesterol by an average of 3.5 points and total cholesterol by 4.6 points.

Bringing a box of doughnuts to an early morning meeting might make you everyone's favorite coworker, but indulging in these sugary treats too often could add numbers to your waistline and your cholesterol. Unless you're baking from scratch, most doughnuts, muffins, and croissants are loaded with butter, sugar, and refined flour. A Starbucks' Blueberry Streusel Muffin may sound wholesome, but it still packs 18 grams of fat and a whopping 27 grams of sugar. Many of these pastries are also heavily processed and may contain trans fats, which can raise your risk of heart disease.

But it's not just the fat and sugar that can throw your health off balance. Research suggests that refined grains and sugar can negatively impact your gut bacteria, which plays a role in how your body manages cholesterol. A 2023 study in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that mice fed high-sugar or refined-grain diets for 12 weeks ended up with higher cholesterol levels compared to those on a whole-grain diet. The whole grains, in contrast, supported gut bacteria that help metabolize cholesterol more efficiently.