How To Eat More Oats To Help Lower Your Cholesterol

Oats are one of the top foods for lowering cholesterol, and the best thing is that they’re incredibly cheap. They’re also really versatile and have a low glycemic index, so will keep you feeling full for longer.

I try to eat oats every day to help lower my cholesterol and keep it low. Here are some of my favourite ways to eat them:-

1. Porridge (Oatmeal)

Porridge is really easy to prepare for breakfast, and you can add extra cholesterol-lowering foods like seeds, nuts, apples and peanut butter. Here are some of the top cholesterol-lowering recipes:-

2. Oat Muesli

Muesli is another great way to eat oats as it’s so versatile. You can have it with milk or yoghurt, sprinkle it on cooked fruit or turn it into snack bars.

There are tons of different muesli varieties available in the supermarket, but make sure you choose ones with less than 1.5g saturated fat per 100g, and avoid the ones with lots of added sugar and preservatives. Or you could make your own, which means you can choose what you put in it and avoid all the unhealthy additives.

I make a really simple muesli with rolled oats, goji berries, flaked almonds and ground flaxseeds, which I eat with fat free yoghurt. I make up a big batch of it to last a week – see my note below about storing ground flaxseeds. I generally don’t toast the oats and almonds as I prefer to opt for the speedier meal prep options, but it will taste even better if you do.

Here are some other cholesterol-lowering muesli recipes to try:-

Note about storing ground flaxseeds:- I keep my ground flaxseeds in the freezer to stop them going rancid, but they’re ok out of the freezer for 7 days, which is why I only make a week’s worth of muesli at a time. I add 1tbs of ground flaxseeds for each day’s worth of muesli.

3. Overnight Oats

Overnight oats are a brilliant morning time-saver, as you can prepare them the night before. There are tons of recipes online for overnight oats that can help to lower cholesterol. Here are some of my favourites:-

4. Oat Pancakes

Oats can be used instead of flour to make cholesterol-lowering pancakes, and they actually taste surprisingly good! As oats are full of fibre and have a much lower glycemic index than white flour, oat pancakes will keep you fuller for longer than normal pancakes. Try this 3 ingredient oat pancake recipe from the Simple Vegan Blog.

5. Oat Bars

Homemade oat bars are a great cholesterol-friendly snack as they generally contain other cholesterol lowering foods like nuts and seeds as well. Here are some recipes for oat bars that can help to lower your cholesterol while keeping your hunger at bay until dinner time:-

6. Smoothies

Eating smoothies is an easy way to pack lots of fruit and veg into your day and you can add cholesterol lowering foods like oats, nuts and ground flaxseeds as well. Here are some cholesterol-lowering smoothie recipes to try:-

7. Oat Muffins

Not all muffins are unhealthy. These healthy oat-based muffins contain lots of nutrients and can help to lower your cholesterol:-

8. Oatcakes with Toppings

One of my favourite things to snack on is oatcakes with various toppings, like peanut butter or avocado. For cholesterol-friendly oatcake topping ideas, see this pos t.