Does High Cholesterol Got You Down?

Does High Cholesterol Got You Down?

Does your high cholesterol have you feeling down?   Get your high cholesterol down instead.  Cholesterol often can be lowered without the use of medication.  There are lifestyle changes that you can make in order to reduce high cholesterol.  However, there may be times when you need medical intervention in order to return your cholesterol to safe levels. 
 
There are two types of cholesterol.  One type is considered to be a good cholesterol and the other a bad type.  HDL is the good cholesterol and is actually health.  LDL is the bad cholesterol than can cause you health problems.  LDL builds up inside the walls of your arteries and can cause arteriosclerosis, which may lead to stroke and heart disease. 
 
Good eating habits will help you lower cholesterol as well as help to prevent high cholesterol in the first place.  For example, you will want to include plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet.  These types of foods can lower cholesterol.  Fruits and vegetables do not contain much fat.  On the other hand, foods with saturated fats should be avoided or you should limit your intake. 
 
You can enjoy eating white meat.  Just remember to remove the skin.  Even beef is pretty safe to eat.  Eat about 3 to 3 & 1/2 ounces.  Whenever you prepare beef, simply keep in mind that it is important not to cook with fat.  This will help you to keep your beef at a reasonable level of fat and cholesterol.  When cooking with vegetable oils, read the labels.  Canola oil is an excellent choice.  In fact, it only has 7% saturated fat as opposed to sunflower oil and coconut oil, which have very high levels of saturated fat.  Avoid using butter and hard margarine.  Always read your labels.
 
Most highly processed foods are very high in fat.  They also are typically high in cholesterol.  These foods should be avoided whenever possible.  You should skip foods with trans fats.  They will lower your good cholesterol and increase the bad.  Don't use margarine and shortening or other foods with a significant portion of trans fats. 
 
In order to have more good cholesterol than bad, you will want to get out and get moving.  Exercise is a necessary step in a plan to lower the bad cholesterol and keep it that way.  You should try to exercise at least every other day.  Even if you can only exercise for a half an hour, this will help.  Walking is a great exercise to lower LDL cholesterol levels.
 
Losing weight also will help you to maintain healthy cholesterol levels.  As you lose weight you will begin to see an increase in the levels of good cholesterol.  In time, your levels of bad cholesterol will begin to fall.  Losing weight will help you to be healthier as well.  You can lower your HDL, improve your heart health and so many other healthful benefits.
 If you smoke, you should stop.  If you stop smoking you will see an increase in good cholesterol levels.  You may see an increase of as much as 4mg per deciliter in your levels of good cholesterol. 
 
Sometimes even when people eat healthfully and exercise, they still have high cholesterol.  If this is the case, your doctor might prescribe you medication to help lower your cholesterol.  Often medicines in the class of Statins are used to lower cholesterol.  These medicines work by blocking the cholesterol-producing enzymes.  There are other medications used to treat high cholesterol.  Some work by actually raising the levels of good cholesterol.
 
If you have high cholesterol, there are steps you can take to improve your health.   Make a conscious effort to eat healthfully.  Try to limit the amount of fat and cholesterol in your diet.  Increase the amounts of health foods that you eat.  Add exercise into your routine to help you lose weight and maintain good health.  If after working hard, you still have high cholesterol your doctor may offer you some medicine to help in combination with the healthy lifestyle.