No food literally contains HDL cholesterol, the “good” kind your body makes on its own. But certain foods reliably help your body produce more of it or make the HDL you already have work better at clearing harmful cholesterol from your arteries. Optimal HDL is 60 mg/dL or higher for both men and women, while levels below 40 mg/dL in men or 50 mg/dL in women are considered low and raise cardiovascular risk.
HDL works by shuttling excess cholesterol from your blood vessels back to the liver, where it gets recycled into bile or hormones. The foods below support that process through different mechanisms: healthy fats, soluble fiber, and plant compounds that each play a role.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Olive oil is one of the most studied foods for HDL health, and the key is its polyphenols, the antioxidant compounds that give high-quality extra virgin olive oil its peppery bite. In a randomized controlled trial published in an American Heart Association journal, participants who consumed about two tablespoons per day of polyphenol-rich olive oil saw a meaningful improvement in how well their HDL particles removed cholesterol from artery walls. The polyphenol-poor version of the same oil actually worsened that function slightly. So quality matters: look for extra virgin olive oil that tastes robust, not bland, and use it as your primary cooking and dressing fat.
Fatty Fish
Salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, and tuna are the richest sources of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. A large Cochrane review of 86 clinical trials found that omega-3 intake reduced blood triglycerides by about 15% and modestly lowered rates of cardiovascular death. Triglycerides and HDL have an inverse relationship in most people: as triglycerides drop, HDL levels tend to rise. Leaner fish like tilapia, cod, and bass contain far less omega-3, so they won’t move the needle the same way. Two servings of fatty fish per week is the standard recommendation for heart health.
Eggs
Eggs were demonized for decades because of their cholesterol content, but the relationship between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol is more nuanced than once believed. Several randomized controlled trials have found that eating eggs raises HDL cholesterol, particularly at dietary cholesterol intakes between 650 and 900 mg per day (roughly three to four eggs). For most people, the HDL increase offsets the modest bump in LDL, improving the overall ratio. If you already have high LDL or a condition that affects how you process dietary cholesterol, your response may differ.
Nuts and Seeds
Walnuts stand out among nuts because of their unusually high polyunsaturated fat content: a single one-ounce serving (about 14 halves) delivers 13.3 grams of polyunsaturated fat, the type most strongly linked to better cholesterol profiles. Chia seeds provide 6.7 grams per ounce, and pumpkin seeds offer about 5.9 grams. Ground flaxseed is lower per serving (2 grams per tablespoon) but easy to add to oatmeal or smoothies daily.
The National Lipid Association recommends four or more servings of unsalted nuts per week, with one serving being about one ounce. Almonds, pistachios, and pecans are also good choices because of their monounsaturated fat content. The emphasis on unsalted matters: excess sodium can raise blood pressure, compounding cardiovascular risk.
Soy Foods
Tofu, edamame, tempeh, and soy milk contain both protein and naturally occurring isoflavones, plant compounds that mimic estrogen at a very mild level. A meta-analysis of clinical trials found that soy protein with its isoflavones intact raised HDL cholesterol by about 3%. That’s a modest effect, but it was consistent across studies, especially those lasting longer than 12 weeks and using higher isoflavone doses (above 80 mg per day, roughly the amount in two servings of tofu or a large glass of soy milk). People who started with worse cholesterol numbers saw the biggest improvements.
Beans, Lentils, and Oats
These foods are famous for their soluble fiber, which forms a gel in your digestive tract and traps cholesterol before it can be absorbed. A meta-analysis of 26 clinical trials found that one daily serving of beans, lentils, or dried peas lowered LDL (the harmful kind) by about 5%. The same analysis, however, did not find a significant direct increase in HDL from pulses alone. Oats tell a similar story: consuming 3 to 4 grams of beta-glucan per day (about one and a half cups of cooked oatmeal) reduced LDL by roughly 6.5% in a controlled trial, but the effect on HDL was not clearly demonstrated.
So why include them? Lowering LDL improves the ratio between LDL and HDL, which is what your doctor actually uses to assess risk. A 5% drop in LDL without any change in HDL still means your HDL is doing its job more effectively relative to the total amount of cholesterol in your blood. These foods also replace less healthy options in your diet, which compounds the benefit over time.
Foods That Lower HDL
Knowing what to eat is only half the picture. Trans fats are the single worst dietary ingredient for HDL because they simultaneously raise LDL and suppress HDL, a double hit. Although partially hydrogenated oils have been largely banned, trans fats still show up in commercial baked goods like cakes and cookies, frozen pizza, microwave popcorn, refrigerated dough products, fried foods (french fries, doughnuts, fried chicken), nondairy coffee creamers, and some stick margarines. Check ingredient lists for “partially hydrogenated” anything and avoid it entirely.
Refined carbohydrates and added sugars also indirectly suppress HDL by driving up triglycerides. Swapping a sugary breakfast cereal for oatmeal with walnuts, or replacing a bag of chips with a handful of almonds, addresses both sides of the equation at once.
Putting It Together
No single food will transform your HDL levels overnight. The pattern matters more than any individual ingredient. The Mediterranean diet, which naturally combines olive oil, fatty fish, nuts, legumes, and whole grains while minimizing processed foods, is the dietary pattern most consistently linked to higher HDL and lower cardiovascular risk in large population studies. Building meals around these foods creates overlapping benefits: the olive oil improves HDL function, the fish lowers triglycerides, the beans and oats pull down LDL, and the nuts fill in healthy fats throughout the day.
Exercise is the other major lever. Regular aerobic activity raises HDL by 2 to 8 mg/dL in most studies, an effect that stacks on top of dietary changes. Even 30 minutes of brisk walking most days makes a measurable difference, particularly if you’re starting from a sedentary baseline.