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November 1, 2022

Foods The Correct Help Reduce Cholesterol Levels

dates sorted by size showing different wholesale grades

This post looks at the evening meal and how it is cooked, using the foods the NHS (the UK health service) links with lower cholesterol. Dates come in at the end of the meal, along with what the studies on dates and blood lipids actually found.

The starting point is the NHS page on high cholesterol. It says high cholesterol can be caused by eating fatty food, not exercising enough, being overweight, smoking and drinking alcohol. You can lower it by eating healthily and getting more exercise, and some people also need to take medicine. It does not usually cause symptoms, so a blood test is the only way to know.

Two NHS lists to cook from

The NHS page on how to lower your cholesterol says to cut down on fatty food, especially food with saturated fat. You can still have foods with unsaturated fat. Its "try to eat more" list:

  • oily fish, like mackerel and salmon
  • olive oil, rapeseed oil and spreads made from these oils
  • brown rice, wholegrain bread and wholewheat pasta
  • nuts and seeds
  • fruits and vegetables

Its "try to eat less" list covers meat pies, sausages and fatty meat; butter, lard and ghee; cream and cheese; cakes and biscuits; and food that contains coconut oil or palm oil. Butter, lard and ghee on the second list are cooking fats, so that list is about how dinner is cooked as well as what is bought.

The fish, and how it is cooked

The NHS page on fish and shellfish says fish that is steamed, baked or grilled is a healthier choice than fried fish. Frying can increase the fat content of fish, especially if it is cooked in batter. So the cooking method is part of the choice.

The same page names salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout, herring, pilchards and sprats as oily fish, and says fresh and canned tuna do not count. It advises at least 2 portions of fish a week, including 1 of oily fish, with a portion of around 140 g. Girls, women who may have a child one day, and pregnant or breastfeeding women should have no more than 2 portions of oily fish a week, because of pollutants.

On nights without fish, the NHS Eatwell Guide suggests lean cuts of meat and mince, and less red and processed meat. It calls beans, peas and lentils good alternatives to meat because they are low in fat and a good source of fibre and protein.

The oil in the pan

Olive oil and rapeseed oil are on the eat-more list. Butter, ghee, coconut oil and palm oil are on the eat-less list. The NHS page Fat: the facts explains why. It says most saturated fats come from animal sources, plus some plant foods such as palm oil and coconut oil, and it lists coconut cream with them. Eating too much saturated fat can raise "bad" LDL cholesterol in your blood. It also says there is good evidence that replacing saturated fats with some unsaturated fats can help to lower your cholesterol level.

Swapping the oil does not make it free to pour. The fat page says a gram of any fat, saturated or unsaturated, gives 9 kcal, against 4 kcal for carbohydrate and protein. The Eatwell Guide says to use unsaturated oils in small amounts.

Rice and vegetables on the side

The Eatwell Guide says starchy foods should make up just over a third of what we eat, and suggests higher-fibre or wholegrain kinds such as brown rice and wholewheat pasta. Fruit and vegetables should make up just over a third as well. The NHS page on getting more fibre gives one example: a dinner of grilled chicken breast, a skin-on baked potato, carrots and green beans should give you around 11.2 g of fibre.

Dates at the end of the meal

Cakes and biscuits are on the eat-less list, so dessert is worth a look too. The NHS counts a 30 g portion of dried fruit, such as dates, as one of your 5 A Day, and says it should be eaten at mealtimes, not as a snack between meals, to reduce the impact on teeth. The NHS page on sugar says it is better for your teeth to eat dried fruit as part of a meal, for example in tagines and stews or as part of a healthy dessert. A few dates after dinner fit that advice.

USDA FoodData Central lists Deglet Noor dates at 0 mg of cholesterol, 0.39 g of fat and 0.032 g of saturated fat per 100 g, with 8.0 g of fibre. Medjool dates have 0.15 g of fat and 6.7 g of fibre per 100 g. They are sweet, though: per 100 g, Medjool has 277 kcal and 66.5 g of sugars, and Deglet Noor 282 kcal and 63.4 g.

The sugar page says sugar found naturally in fruit does not count as free sugars, unless the fruit is juiced or puréed. Adults should have no more than 30 g of free sugars a day. Whole dates stay on the fruit side, but a dessert made with puréed dates counts towards the free sugar limit. Weigh 30 g once so you know what a portion looks like.

What the date studies found

A food with no cholesterol in it is not the same as a food that lowers the cholesterol in your blood. Here is what three studies on that second question found.

In a pilot study (Rock et al., 2009), ten healthy people ate 100 g a day of Medjool or Hallawi dates for four weeks. Their total cholesterol and the cholesterol in the VLDL, LDL and HDL fractions did not change significantly. Triglycerides fell by 8% after Medjool and 15% after Hallawi.

A randomised trial (Butler et al., 2022) gave 79 people with type 2 diabetes either 60 g of dates or 60 g of raisins daily for 12 weeks, split into a midmorning and a midafternoon snack. Sixty-one completed the study. Lipids showed no difference between or within the groups.

A meta-analysis limited to people with type 2 diabetes (Mirghani and Alhowiti, 2025) pooled fourteen cohorts from four studies, 298 participants in all. Dates reduced total cholesterol in the pooled result, with heterogeneity of 90%. LDL, triglycerides and HDL showed no significant change, and the authors say larger studies are needed.

So the evidence is thin. The study in healthy people found no change in cholesterol, the diabetes trial found no change in lipids, and the meta-analysis, in type 2 diabetes only, found lower total cholesterol but no significant change in LDL. None of the three found that dates made lipids worse. After dinner they count as a fruit portion, alongside the swaps on the NHS lists.

Beyond the dinner plate

Food is one part of the NHS advice. It also says to aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week, to stop smoking, and to avoid drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week on a regular basis. Whether you also need medicine is a question for your doctor.

For the dates themselves, see kurma prices and the dates fruit range, or contact us with a question. The figures above are for plain dates, so check the label on stuffed or coated ones.

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have high cholesterol or take medicine for it, talk to your doctor before changing your diet.

References