In a National Cholesterol Awareness Month interview, host Ashley welcomes nutrition specialist Reena Vokoun to discuss seven everyday foods that can help lower cholesterol. Reena cites CDC data that 25 million U.S. adults have cholesterol over 200 mg/dL, linking high cholesterol to hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, and type 2 diabetes. She then outlines each food, explaining its key nutrients, how it influences LDL (bad) or HDL (good) cholesterol, and practical ways to incorporate it into meals: dark chocolate (high‑cacao flavonoids, antioxidant‑rich, use in pancakes or smoothies), strawberries (soluble fiber, antioxidants, add to smoothies, salads), kale (phytochemicals, lowers LDL and triglycerides, use in salads, smoothies, sandwiches), olive oil/olives (monounsaturated fat, lowers LDL and raises HDL, cooking oil or dressings), avocados (monounsaturated fat, reduces inflammation and cholesterol absorption, use in tacos, toast, salads), unsweetened soy milk (lower saturated fat and sugar than dairy, add to smoothies, cereal, pancakes), and brown rice (whole‑grain fiber that helps flush cholesterol, mix with other rice varieties, serve with proteins and vegetables). The segment concludes with a plug for Reena’s upcoming podcast, “Your Power Move by PassionFit,” which will cover health, fitness, career, relationships, and more, releasing twice monthly on major platforms. The tone remains conversational, enthusiastic, and supportive throughout.
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September is National Cholesterol Awareness Month, and who other would know what we should eat than Reena Vokoun? Nice to see you.
Yeah, thanks for having me again, Ashley.
Oh my gosh, I always look forward to your segments, and I'm really hopeful that cherries are good for you because my dress happens to be covered in them.
Yes, your adorable dress with cherries. We'll just fill that into the strawberries mix. Yes, for National Cholesterol Awareness Month. So yeah, according to the CDC, 25 million adults in the U.S. have cholesterol levels that are over 200 140 milligrams per deciliter. And when you do have high cholesterol, that puts you at risk for things like high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, and type 2 diabetes. So it is important to think about what foods you should eat. Obviously, if you need to take medication, that's something to talk to your doctor about. But today we're gonna go through 7 foods that you can easily add into your meals that are gonna help lower your cholesterol.
Okay, wonderful. And I spy something tasty right off the bat. What do we have here?
Yes, I wanted to start us off with something fun, 'cause it doesn't all have to be un— um, food that doesn't taste good, but this is dark chocolate. Obviously, the cacao levels, the higher you go, the better, but dark chocolate has flavonoids, it has antioxidants and cocoa, and it's really gonna help with lowering your blood pressure and your overall cholesterol levels. You can, I love to make protein pancakes with dark chocolate chips. You can throw some dark chocolate chips in your smoothie. You can eat them just like you did as a standalone, but in moderation, it's a great way to lower your cholesterol levels.
I've never chewed chocolate so fast 'cause I wanted to be able to make sure I could speak when you were done. I get into strawberries. I love keeping fresh fruit around the house.
Absolutely, and strawberries is a favorite, I think, with a lot of people, and they are filled with soluble fiber, they have antioxidants, and they're really good for lowering your LDL levels, which is the bad cholesterol. You want to stay usually under 100 milligrams per deciliter, and again, they're easy to eat just like on the go, on your own. You can throw them into a smoothie, into a salad. There's so many things you can do, and they're just bright and pretty and fun to eat.
I know, and equally important is kale, and you can do a lot with that as well.
Yes, you can do a lot with kale. It is a phytochemical, and it has so many great nutrients in it. Again, it's going to help lower those LDL levels, triglyceride levels. You can put it in salads, you can put it in smoothies, you can put it in sandwiches, so many different things that you can do. So kale is another great one to add to your nutrition plan.
And I'm sure if everybody opened up their cabinets at home, I'm sure I'm sure everybody probably has some olive oil.
Exactly. I would say if you're not already doing it, make sure that you are cooking with olive oil and also eating olives if you like them. I don't personally love olives on their own. My kids do, my husband does, but whatever works for you. But if you can cook with olive oil, that's great. Um, it is a monounsaturated fat. Um, it's actually not only good for lowering your LDL levels, but it's, um, good for increasing your HDL levels, which are the good cholesterol, and you wanna be above 40 milligrams per deciliter for those.
Okay, olives are one of those funny divisive things. Like, our half— half the house loves them in our house, half of them don't, but I'm team olive for sure.
Okay.
So I feel good about that.
This is a good one, yes.
Okay, what about the avocados?
Yeah, I love avocados. It's one of my favorite foods, and it also is a monounsaturated fat. Both olive oil and avocado, these healthy fats, really help to reduce inflammation in the body. It really helps with making sure that cholesterol doesn't absorb into your bloodstream, and just another great one for lowering cholesterol and adding to different things. You can add them to tacos or burritos or salads. You can eat them on avocado toast, which I know we've shown on the show in the past as a great healthy snack. So lots of things you can do with avocado, and again, it's good for your heart.
Okay, and you have to wash all of this down with something.
Yes, with something. And yes, unsweetened soy milk is a great way to go. It actually has less saturated fat and less sugar than cow's milk, which is great. Yeah, and so it's another one to again wash down the food. You can add it into smoothies, into cereal, You can cook with it. When I make pancakes, I use either almond milk or soy milk. So lots to do there, and again, it's just really good for overall cardiovascular health and preventing against high blood pressure and other things.
I mean, everything you've shown us this morning looks good and tastes good, so it's so nice to know that it's good for you. What's the last item that we should be considering eating?
Yeah, so the last one is brown rice. It's a whole grain. It's also a fiber. It really helps to make sure that you're flushing out that cholesterol through your digestive tract, and again, you You can do so much with brown rice, and I know some people say they don't like the taste of brown rice versus regular. You could always mix it together. Maybe you take like an organic jasmine rice and put half of it as brown rice, and you won't even know the difference. And add it to chicken and to fish and vegetables and so many different things.
Nice. Well, you always have such great tips. So if you recognize Reena, she is on the show at least monthly and always comes armed with great tools and tips for all of us to live a healthier, happier life. And I'm happy to share, we've talked about this before, but people can get a lot more of you. Your podcast is launching soon. Tell us again what we can expect, the name, and what we'll learn from you.
Yeah, so the podcast is called Your Power Move by PassionFit, and it's launching this month, actually this week. The first solo episode is going to go live, and then in 2 weeks, our lovely friend Ashley and Aida, our executive producer here for The Localist SD, will be my first 2 guests. We had so much fun recording, and then yeah, every month it'll come out twice monthly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube, and we're going to talk all about your power move in different areas of your life, your health, wellness, fitness, your career, your family, relationships, and more.
Oh my gosh, well, we had so much fun being part of it, so thank you for considering us. And she sparks great conversations. She's not just full of tips when it comes to your health, but she gets great conversations going. So we all had a great time. Um, so Reena, thank you so much for coming in today and sharing all of these tips. And you can stick around if you want
