Lowering Cholesterol
High cholesterol can put you at a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease, having a heart attack or stroke. A complete cholesterol test will measure your cholesterol levels, including total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and whether these values put you at a higher risk for heart disease.
Normal, healthy cholesterol levels are total cholesterol at or less than 200 mg/dL, LDL cholesterol at or less than 100 mg/dL (or 70 md/dL or less for people with a very high risk of heart disease), and HDL cholesterol at or more than 60 mg/dL.
Lowering cholesterol naturally, without statin drugs or medications, is possible. If you have high cholesterol, you can make lifestyle changes to bring your cholesterol closer to a healthy level. A healthy diet and exercise are important. Cholesterol lowering foods and supplements can also help.
A cholesterol lowering diet involves eating the right types of fat and eating foods that can lower your cholesterol. Eating a low cholesterol diet can help, but it is more important to eat the right types of fat. Eat fewer foods with saturated fat and trans fat and eat more foods with healthy unsaturated fats.
Eat fewer high fat meat and dairy products - these foods are high in saturated fat - and choose protein foods with less saturated fat like fish, chicken, lower fat red meat, low fat milk, nuts and beans. Also, choose low cholesterol foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and fish.
To reduce trans fat, look at food labels and choose foods with 0 grams of trans fat per serving. Eat fewer deep fried restaurant foods and pastries.
Eat plenty of fiber-rich fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Oats and oat bran, barley, most fruits, psyllium and beans are good choices.
There are other ways to lower cholesterol without drugs. It is important to lose weight, stop smoking and exercise. Some dietary supplements and phytochemicals may lower cholesterol. Plant sterols and stanols, green tea, and soy protein are just a few.
Some people may not be able to lower cholesterol enough through diet and exercise alone. Doctors often prescribe drugs called statins, which reduce bad cholesterol and even raise good cholesterol in the blood. These drugs are also known as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors because this is the enzyme affected by the drugs. By inhibiting the enzyme, more LDL cholesterol can be cleared from the blood stream. Statins come by various names, the most commonly prescribed being Lipitor. There's also Crestor, Zocor, Pravachol, and many others. High cholesterol is thought by many researchers to be hereditary.
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