Only about 40% of the volunteers reached this target, but Jenkins says anyone can easily start adding some of these foods into their diet gradually.

Jenkins says his next step is to follow-up with his diet-study patients to see whether the change in their eating habits translates to cleaner arteries and therefore to fewer heart events.

For most people, Jenkins says, it wouldn't require that much effort to boost consumption of these foods enough to achieve a cholesterol-reducing effect.