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Cholesterol: The Good, The Bad, And 4 Ways To Lower It

By Tim Chudy

In America today there are over 140 million people with borderline to high cholesterol levels. That's nearly 50% of the population. And that's a lot considering more than a few of the risk factors are controllable.

High levels of cholesterol in the blood may lead to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cholesterol may also lead to a heart attack or stroke. The consequences are very clear, yet cholesterol levels continue to rise among many Americans. I will share with you the background on cholesterol and ways to lower your cholesterol.

There are two ways to get cholesterol. Our livers produce it for us in ample amounts, about 1,000mg per day. The rest of our cholesterol comes from animal foods such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and dairy. Plant foods do not contain any cholesterol.

There are two main types of cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL cholesterol is considered the 'bad' cholesterol. LDL lines the walls of the arteries and builds up plaque resulting in narrowing or even blockage of the arteries. HDL is considered the 'good' cholesterol. It carries cholesterol back to the liver and away from the major arteries. HDL will lower one's risk of a heart attack while LDL levels will increase their risk.

How do you decrease your cholesterol and more importantly your risk for CVD? Hereditary, nutrition, exercise, stress, and body weight all play a role in your cholesterol level. Unfortunately hereditary is not controllable. But the others are. If you have borderline high to high cholesterol you will want to implement these tips immediately into your lifestyle.

Here are 4 steps to keep your cholesterol in check:

  1. Start a more intense workout program. If you're not exercising, which you should be for many of the other benefits, starting a health and fitness program will help raise HDL cholesterol levels. Incorporating cardiovascular exercise as well as weight resistance exercise will help bring your overall level down. Make sure you're working out at the right intensities and training at least 3 days per week for 30-60 minutes. Seek out a fitness professional if you need help or guidance in setting up a program.
  2. Clean up your diet. Nutrition can be easily modified to lower cholesterol levels. Start by reducing your fat intake within meals. Eliminate butter, high fat meats, egg yolks, whole dairy, and oils. In our frantic paced society today there has been an increase in processed foods. Limit packaged products that have been highly processed like pre-made cakes, cookies, muffins. Cutting out fried foods will also be a necessary step in lowering cholesterol. Choose a side salad or cole slaw instead of french fries when eating out.
  3. Lose weight. When combining steps 1 and 2 you will help bring your body weight down. Make sure that your overall calorie intake does not exceed that of what your body expends.
  4. Decrease the stress in your life. Again, steps 1 and 2 will have a profound effect on lowering stress. Although stress is not directly related to cholesterol levels, scientists have found highly stressed individuals to eat high fat foods and lose sight of proper nutrition and exercise.

As you can see, starting not one but multiple ways to lower cholesterol will have a synergistic affect on your body. This way you will be able to stay off medications that may have unwanted side effects. If you take action and start on at least the first 2 steps you will see drop in cholesterol by your next doctor's visit.

About the Author:

Tim Chudy, St. Louis' Top Fitness Expert, speaks and writes on a variety of health and fitness topics. He is owner of Fitness Together, a private personal training studio in St. Louis, MO. You can contact him by