LDL Reset: a 30-day plan to lower your LDL with food
One small task a day and one LDL-lowering food group a week, built around the Portfolio diet. With daily heart-healthy menu ideas, one-tap logging and a weekly shopping list.
Start your LDL Reset
LDL Reset is a free 30-day programme in the Heart Tracker app for iPhone. Each day gives you one small food task that takes under two minutes, and each week adds one of the food groups studied for lowering LDL cholesterol: less saturated fat, then oats and barley, then nuts and beans, then soy and plant sterols. You get menu ideas from 64 heart-healthy recipes, a shopping list for the week and a countdown to your next blood test.
How do you lower LDL cholesterol in 30 days?
Most people who get a high LDL result are told to "eat better" and come back in three months. The hard part isn't knowing that oats and beans help. It's knowing what to buy, what to cook tomorrow and whether you're doing enough. LDL Reset turns the advice into one job a day.
Diet trials show LDL starts to move within a few weeks of a change, which is why 30 days is long enough to build the habit and short enough to commit to. The plan adds one food group at a time instead of asking you to change everything on day one. In trials, sticking with the foods was the hardest part, so the plan is built to keep each step small. Read more in how long it takes to lower cholesterol with diet.
What you do each week
| Week | Focus | Example daily tasks |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 Days 1–7 | Cut saturated fat, the biggest dietary driver of LDL | Swap butter for an olive oil spread at lunch. Check the saturated fat on one thing you buy often. |
| Week 2 Days 8–14 | Oats and barley (soluble fibre, beta-glucan) | Buy porridge oats or pearl barley. Have oats for breakfast three days this week. |
| Week 3 Days 15–21 | Nuts, beans and lentils | Put a handful of almonds in your bag. Add a tin of beans to one dinner. |
| Week 4 Days 22–30 | Soy and plant sterols | Try soya milk or tofu once. Read the label on a sterol-fortified product. |
These are the four parts of the Portfolio diet, the eating pattern developed by Dr David Jenkins' team to lower LDL with food, eaten on top of a diet low in saturated fat. Heart Tracker describes what the research found. It doesn't promise a result for you, because everyone responds differently.
Everything in the LDL Reset
One task a day
30 short tasks, each tied to that week's food group. Tick it off on Home or ask Siri. A missed day simply waits for tomorrow, so one bad day never breaks the plan.
Today's heart menu
A breakfast, lunch and dinner idea every day, picked from 64 heart-friendly recipes to fit this week's food group. Tap "I had this" to log it in one go, or "Swap" for another idea.
Weekly shopping list
The staples for the coming week plus any recipes you've saved, grouped by aisle. Tick items off in the shop, or share the list as text with a partner.
Fits how you eat
Tell it your eating style (everything, pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan), what you avoid (nuts, soy, gluten, dairy or fish), how long you have to cook and your budget. Avoid nuts or soy and those tasks are swapped for safe alternatives.
Plan my week
Want the whole week sorted? Plan my week builds seven days of meals from the recipe library and fills your shopping list. It's smarter on iPhones with Apple Intelligence and works without it too.
Pause or stop any time
Going on holiday? Pause for a week. Want to stop? End the plan from the Plan tab. If you have a family history, the plan can go at a gentler pace of one task every two days.
How the LDL Reset works
- Add your latest result, or just your goal. Enter your cholesterol test and Heart Tracker explains your numbers and sets a goal. No result yet? Start with "lower my LDL".
- Answer four quick questions about how you eat, what you avoid, cooking time and budget.
- Do today's task. It takes under two minutes. If the task involves a food group, it also ticks your daily heart check-in.
- Eat from today's menu when you want an idea, and log it with one tap.
- Check in on Mondays. A 20-second weekly check-in shows your heart score, activity and, if you want it, your weight from Apple Health.
- Retest. The retest coach reminds you to book your blood test, tells you what to keep steady beforehand and shows what changed when the new result goes in.
Who is the LDL Reset for?
- You've just had a high cholesterol result and want a plan before your retest.
- You take a statin and want your diet to add to it. The plan never suggests stopping or changing a medicine.
- You have a family history of high cholesterol or heart disease. If your LDL is 190 mg/dL (4.9 mmol/L) or higher, the app suggests asking your doctor about familial hypercholesterolaemia.
- You're eating to prevent heart disease. You get the daily menu and weekly heart score without the full programme.
After the 30 days
The LDL Reset is the first month of your LDL plan. After day 30 the Plan tab keeps going with one food focus a week (reading labels, eating out, desserts, oily fish, moving more) and your daily menu, right up to your retest.
Frequently asked questions
Can you lower cholesterol in 30 days?
Diet changes can start lowering LDL within a few weeks, and trials of the Portfolio diet measured meaningful drops after four weeks. How much yours changes depends on your starting diet, your genes and any medicine you take. Doctors usually recheck cholesterol 6 to 12 weeks after a change, so 30 days is a good first step towards your retest.
What is the Portfolio diet?
The Portfolio diet combines four food groups shown to lower LDL cholesterol: soluble fibre (oats, barley, beans), nuts, soy and other plant protein, and plant sterols, eaten on top of a diet low in saturated fat. LDL Reset introduces one group a week. See our complete Portfolio diet guide.
Is the LDL Reset free?
Yes. LDL Reset is included in Heart Tracker at no cost, with no subscription and no account.
Does LDL Reset work if I'm allergic to nuts or avoid soy?
Yes. Tell the app what you avoid (nuts, soy, gluten, dairy or fish) and it swaps those tasks, recipes and shopping list items for safe alternatives, such as seeds instead of nuts or more beans and sterols instead of soy.
Can I follow the LDL Reset while taking a statin?
Yes. Diet adds to the effect of a statin, and many people use both. The app never suggests stopping or changing your medicine, and you can tick off your daily dose in the same place.
Do I need Apple Intelligence?
No. Every part of the LDL Reset works on any iPhone running iOS 26 or later. On iPhones with Apple Intelligence, Plan my week and your weekly notes are more personal.
Is the LDL Reset on Android?
Not yet. The LDL Reset is new in Heart Tracker 2.2 for iPhone and iPad. Android users can join the beta for early access.
Related
Start your 30-day LDL Reset
One small food task a day, a menu for today and a shopping list for the week. Free on iPhone.
Download on theApp StoreFree download • iPhone and iPad • iOS 26.0 or later • No account needed
