Can eating Salmon help lower your blood cholesterol?

Written by Gloria Tsang, RD
Published in Sep 2002: Updated in Jul 2005

High cholesterol! This term seems to be highly used when dealing with today's health topics! It is the yellowish material in your arteries which narrows the blood vessels. But they are not all bad for you. You can lower the bad type of cholesterol (LDL - low density lipoprotein) and increase the good type of cholesterol (HDL - high density lipoprotein) by altering your diet. LDL is responsible for clogging your blood vessels and HDL helps to "exile" the LDL to the liver where LDL is "destroyed". Hence it is beneficial to have higher level of HDL and less LDL in your blood.

Omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon is an excellent source to boost up HDL in your blood stream. Omega-3 fatty acid is, indeed, a type of polyunsaturated fatty acids which can only be supplied by food sources. A study chaired by Gary J. Nelson, Ph.D., of the U.S. Dept of Agriculture's Western Human Nutrition Research Center in San Francisco, showed that HDL increased by 10% by just eating 20 days of a high salmon diet!

Moderation is the key. Include salmon (or other fish with high omega-3 content such us sardines and tuna) to your meals occasionally and enjoy its health benefits.

Salmon oil supplements are available on the market. Check with your doctor before consuming these pills as a single pill is more concentrated in Omega 3 fatty acids than 1 serving of salmon.

Caution: Do not take salmon oil supplements if you are taking a blood thinner drug as salmon oil supplements may further thin your blood.

Further Reading: Low Cholesterol Diet Omega 3 Fatty Acids Benefits of Fish and Fish Products (check here for the American Heart Association recommendation) Farmed Salmon vs Wild Salmon - Is Farmed Salmon safe to eat? Mercury: Is fish safe to eat?	Find out if the Heart Smart Diet is right for you. Try a free diet profile now! Advertisement