How To Lower Your Cholesterol Levels

Lowering high cholesterol levels will lengthen your life and improve the quality of life because it decreases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Whenever possible it is best to control cholesterol levels without medication, first. Always consult with your primary care physician about this. Even if you find yourself needing medication to lower cholesterol, you may need less if you can lower the levels some without medication. Ways to lower cholesterol without medication:

Diet
Exercise

DIET

Diet changes can be difficult and challenging, but once you develop new eating habits and start feeling healthier, it will take less effort. Ways to change your diet to aid in lower cholesterol levels:

Eliminate and reduce foods that are high in cholesterol - some suggest that cholesterol that comes from food should be less than 300 mg per day. For those with high cholesterol who want to lower their cholesterol may want to reduce the amount to 200 mg. Foods that are high in cholesterol:

Eggs (mainly the yolk)
Chicken
Liver
Beef
Sausage
Butter
Sponge cake
Ice cream
Processed and deep fried foods

Limit foods that have trans fat or saturated fats - your body will make cholesterol from both trans and saturated fats. The government has stepped in and implemented regulations regarding trans fat. Most fast food restaurants complied voluntarily with the new guidelines while others were forced to. Some took a little longer due to the desire to make substitutions but didn’t want to change the taste of their products. The brain needs some fats for proper function, so be sure you don’t eliminate all fat from your diet.

Increase soluble fiber - it binds with fatty acids and causes the stomach to empty more slowly so that the rate of sugar release and absorption is prolonged. Soluble fiber reduces the cholesterol that is absorbed in the intestines. Sources of soluble fiber:

Oats/bran
Nuts
Barley
Fruits
Vegetables
Flaxseed
Nuts

Increase healthy foods to lower your cholesterol - fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, and lean meats will help reduce cholesterol.

Changing the way you eat may have the positive side affect of weight loss. This is beneficial because sometimes even a 5-10 lb weight loss can lower cholesterol levels.

Reducing cholesterol too drastically will stimulate the body to produce its own cholesterol and that is more difficult to control and often will require medication.

Cholesterol is needed for the following:

Repair cell and tissue damage
Antioxidant properties
Part of all cells
Needed for proper brain function and memory
Bile (aids in digestions) component
Formation of hormones
Controls inflammation
Part of vitamin production

Take a high protein immunoglobulin supplement – a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2005 81 (4) p 792) found that women and men who had moderately high cholesterol, between 210 and 270 total count, experienced a 6% drop in total cholesterol after only 3 weeks of taking an immunoglobulin supplement.

Of importance to note, the LDL cholesterol level dropped 7% while the HDL cholesterol level remained constant.

EXERCISE

HDL (good cholesterol) increases with exercise and will contribute to lowering high cholesterol levels.

Exercising at least 4 days out of the week - when the exercise is mild activities; it is best to strive to do it every day. Traditional workouts, weight lifting, and running aren’t the only exercises you can do to help lower cholesterol; the following activities can be part of cholesterol lowering exercise routines:

Walking
Gardening
Housework
Dancing

Exercise at least 30 minutes per day - the minutes can be broken up into smaller exercise sessions as long it totals 30 minutes by the end of the day.

Lifestyle changes like eating right and exercising take time to become part of a daily routine. Stick with it and the benefits will be worth it. When efforts to lower your cholesterol have not been successful, your doctor may decide to put you on medication to lower your cholesterol levels.

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