If you have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, your doctor will most likely advise you to start by modifying your diet. Dietary changes can help lower cholesterol levels in individuals with high cholesterol. “Food is going to be your first line of treatment,” says Emily Schmidt, RDN, a registered dietitian in Rochester, Minnesota.High cholesterol is a condition that, over time, can lead to a number of health issues, such as heart attack or stroke. If the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which is often referred to as “bad” cholesterol, gets too high, it can build up in the walls of your arteries, forming a plaque. If one of these plaques ruptures, a blood clot can form, blocking blood flow, and leading to a heart attack or stroke.Diet Is an Important Way to Lower Your CholesterolHigh LDL levels are often the result of a diet rich in saturated fats or trans fats.Saturated fats are found in things like:BeefButterLardWhole-milk dairy productsTrans fats are frequently found in highly processed foods.“The largest impact on our cholesterol levels comes from replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats,” says Kevin Klatt, PhD, RD, assistant research scientist in the Department of Nutrition Sciences and Toxicology at University of California Berkeley. Eliminating these foods from your diet is a good first step in improving your LDL.The second step is to add in foods that help lower your LDL. One important category is foods that contain heart-healthy fats, such as a number of fatty fish, and plant-based fats, such as those found in nuts, seeds, and plant-based oils.Another important group of foods are those that contain soluble fiber, which can be found in certain fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Soluble fiber works by binding to bile, which contains cholesterol, and removing it from the body.“A high fiber diet has been shown to be effective in lowering cholesterol,” says Julia Zumpano, RD, a dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic.In addition to containing soluble fiber, plant-based diets have been shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, as reported in one study.Although these changes can seem intimidating, incremental improvements can really add up, whether it’s cutting down on the amount of highly processed foods you eat or finding ways to add in heart-healthy foods. “It’s all about balance,” Schmidt says. “You don’t have to eat perfectly to have optimal cholesterol levels.”Here are eight foods that can help lower your cholesterol.