How to Lower Cholesterol Level

There are a lot of ways to lower the level of cholesterol. But these ways’ effectiveness on people vary from one individual to another. Some of these suggestions may work for you while some may not, the best way is for you to consult your physician first just to be sure and to avoid complications.

The first thing you must remember is that cholesterol, by itself isn’t necessarily bad. In fact, our body needs cholesterol. What we want is to have a fluid and smooth transport of the cholesterol from the liver to the tissues. With this in mind, what we really want to do is to make sure that our Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) will not get rancid by getting stuck in the linings of the arteries and that we have enough High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) to clean up excess cholesterol from our tissues.

There are a various ways of accomplishing these and they will require lifestyle changes. It will be difficult since most of it entails giving up the pleasures of our palate and an immense effort to get off the couch.

The first and most obvious step would be to avoid eating food rich in cholesterol or saturated fats. Although most of the cholesterol found in our body is produced by the liver, our intake of food rich in saturated fat and cholesterol also contributes to the level of cholesterol in the body. Although we have reiterated that cholesterol by itself isn’t bad for the body, too much of anything is always bad.

A complete and healthy diet also allows not only the lowering of the levels of LDL but also the decrease of triglycerides. By eating a healthy diet requires the intake of soluble fibers that could be taken from fruits and vegetables. These soluble fibers help reduce the number of LDLs and triglycerides.

Reduce carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates, in particular, glucose and fructose, is our source of energy. Again, just like cholesterol, carbohydrates isn’t inherently bad. The problem is that when we are not able to consume or utilize the carbohydrates in our body, it will be broken down either into triglycerides, which will act as stored energy or may be converted to cholesterol as well. It would be advisable to, instead of consuming food with simple sugars, eat food with complex carbohydrates. This way, the production of triglycerides and cholesterol will be postponed.

Exercise would be the most common advice you will hear. Getting physical would definitely help increase the HDL level in the body. More HDL means more lipoproteins to clean up and pick up excess cholesterol form the tissues. With more HDL collecting cholesterol, the probability of having or experiencing any type of cardiovascular illness will be less.

Regular intake of anti oxidants. The number of LDLs will be dangerous to the body if it gets oxidized. A normal, healthy LDL cannot cause any damage to the endothelium which will to atherosclerosis. But an oxidized LDL will cause not only damage to the endothelium but trigger a chain reaction that will cause harm for the body. It is important to take precautions against these possibilities and the best way to avoid these is by having regular dosages of antioxidants.

There are drugs as well that will inhibit the production LDLs in the body. Statin drugs have become popular nowadays as precautionary drugs. It has the ability to reduce cholesterol level by 60 to 70 per cent. But as we said earlier, this might not be as effective to you as it would be to other people. There are other drugs out there as well but it would be best to consult your physician first before purchasing any type of drug.

Now these steps that we have posted are merely suggestions that you could take in order to reduce the probability of incurring heart related illnesses. These may or may not be effective to everyone who will try them. The most important thing is for you to be aware that there are risks in having too much cholesterol in the blood and by not lowering your cholesterol level, you are increasing the risk of a fatal catastrophe.

High Cholesterol Foods

If you want to avoid the increase of your cholesterol level, it is important that you avoid food that contains too much fats and cholesterol. More importantly, what you need to be conscious of is not just any type of fats but saturated fats.

Saturated fats, which contains no double carbon bonds have more hydrogens in them making them hydrogenated. These hydrogenated biomolecules have more calories. Although it could provide more energy as compared with unsaturated fats, the hydrogenated fats will be harder or more difficult to break down through metabolism. Because of this, it is possible that the saturated fats will be deposited together with the adipose cells in the body. Saturated fats also contribute to the increase of LDL levels in the blood as well as reduce the number of HDL, which helps protect the body from certain diseases.

Here is a short list of food that contains high amounts of cholesterol. And as you will see, these same food also contains high amounts of saturated fats. Each of the items will have a corresponding number which indicates the amount of cholesterol it has (in milligrams) for every serving of 100 milligram.

These are just samples of food rich in cholesterol and saturated fats. If you will observe, majority of the food products which contains a large amount of cholesterol in them are meats and dairy products. That is why it would be very difficult for many to control their cholesterol levels - high cholesterol food are the best tasting food available.

These information we have listed are lacking, It does not contain a complete list of food products available in the market that may contain saturated fats and high cholesterol. To be safe and to be aware of the nutritional values of the food you have, It would be best to consult dietitians and nutritional experts for a more detailed list.

Also, be aware that the items in the list are sources of other important nutritions that our body requires. These high cholesterol food products are also rich sources of proteins, and fatty acids that play a big role in our body functions, growth and tissue regeneration.

That is why it is very important to consult with nutrition experts about which food products to avoid and which food products would you substitute to these that will provide you with your other required nutrition.