We all know that
LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) is no good for us, and one of the leading risk factors for heart disease is high
cholesterol levels in the blood. So use these
five tips from the Cleveland Clinic on ways to help lower your cholesterol:
- Avoid high-fat or fried foods. When you do eat foods with fat, look for unsaturated, not saturated, fat.
- Reduce the amount of red meat that you eat, and eat more fish and poultry.
- Get enough soluble fiber by eating plenty of fruits, beans, peas, and oats.
- Don't eat more than three egg yolks per week.
- Get plenty of exercise, maintain a healthy body weight, and stop smoking.
Fit's Tip: If you haven't had your cholesterol checked, you may want to ask your doctor to run a blood test — especially if high cholesterol runs in your family.
There’s been some evidence suggesting that increasing HDL (aka the good cholesterol) can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke — even without changes in LDL (aka the bad cholesterol).
Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests these five things people can do to raise their HDL levels:
- Get aerobic exercise. Moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise can boost HDL by 5 to 10 percent.
When we talk about health and nutrition, the terms
cholesterol and
saturated fat are tossed about frequently. We should avoid large amounts of them, but I for one still get confused by the differences between the two. So I thought it might be a good time for a little review.
For starters,
cholesterol is a waxy substance made by the liver and it's used by the body to make hormones, vitamin D, and other materials.
As if we needed another reason to load up on the coffee in the morning,
new research is suggesting that coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body. This is because the "blood brain barrier" — a filter between the brain and the main blood supply, which protects the central nervous system from potentially harmful chemicals, including cholesterol — could be protected by caffeine. But don't go spending your life savings on
Starbucks just yet, one cup of coffee a day is all researchers think is needed to help protect the brain against cholesterol and chances are you're already getting that much caffeine any given day anyway.
Source
Since I have a history of heart problems in my family, I'm really conscious about foods high in cholesterol. I try to limit the amount of meat and dairy products I eat, and only consume
300mg of cholesterol or less a day. So do you know how much cholesterol is in the foods you eat.
