I'll go into detail here about how I test foods to see how they impact my blood glucose levels. That is easy to do, but can be time consuming to do accurately.
For managing my LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels, trigylcerides and the like, I just have to stick to foods that I know are nutritious and heart healthy, as there is not such an immediate response linking what you eat to an immediately perceptible change in a parameter you can easily measure.
There are now home LDL cholesterol tests which allow you to test at home your HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol levels as well as your trigylcerides (lipid panel). These are much more expensive than blood glucose monitor test kits, however. Also, your cholesterol levels do not fluctuate as rapidly as your blood sugar, so you can't see an immediate impact from a single meal as you can with your blood glucose meter for blood sugar levels.
I'll post more details here about these meters and home monitors shortly.