Work With Your Doctor On A Lower Cholesterol Plan
Lowering your cholesterol doesnt mean going it alone. Your primary care doctor is a helpful partner along your journey.
Your doctor can work with you to create an action plan just for you one that combines diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes to help you lower and manage your cholesterol.
For example, losing weight and quitting smoking can be big helpers for lowering cholesterol. Quitting smoking can raise your good HDL cholesterol levels, and losing weight can lower your bad LDL cholesterol levels significantly.
But these two tasks arent easy. Fortunately, your primary care doctor can be a great resource to help you get started and find practical ways to stick with it. Plus, help with quitting smoking and losing weight may already be covered if you have health insurance.
Whether you want to quit smoking, lose weight or just learn more about how your personal health would benefit from lower cholesterol levels, regular check-ins with your doctor are key. They can also perform cholesterol tests the only way to actually measure cholesterol to check your progress and help you make adjustments based on the results.
Becoming More Physically Active
A sedentary lifestyle lowers HDL cholesterol. Less HDL means theres less good cholesterol to remove bad cholesterol from your arteries.
Physical activity is important. At least;150 minutes of moderate-intensity;aerobic exercise a week;is enough to lower both cholesterol and high blood pressure. And you have lots of options: brisk walking, swimming, bicycling or even yard work can fit the bill.
Treatment With Combinations Of Drugs For High Blood Pressure
The use of combination drug therapy for hypertension is common. At times, using smaller amounts of one or more drugs in combination can minimize side effects while maximizing the anti-hypertensive effect. For example, diuretics, which also can be used alone, are more often used in a low dose in combination with another class of antihypertensive medications. This way, the diuretic has fewer side effects while improving the blood pressure-lowering effect of the other drug. Diuretics also are added to other antihypertensive medications when a patient with hypertension has fluid retention and swelling .
A useful combination is that of a beta blocker with an alpha blocker in patients with high blood pressure and enlargement of the prostate gland in order to treat both conditions simultaneously. Caution is necessary when combining two drugs that both lower the heart rate. For example, patients receiving a combination of a beta blocker to a non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker need to be monitored carefully to avoid an excessively slow heart rate . Combining alpha and beta blockers such as carvedilol and labetalol is useful for cardiomyopathies and for hypertension patients.
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Small Changes Can Make A Big Difference In Your Blood Pressure Numbers
If you suddenly find yourself with high blood pressure under the new guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, you might be wondering what to do. The guidelines lowered the definition for high blood pressure to 130/80 from 140/90 millimeters of mercury , meaning more people now meet the criteria for stage 1 hypertension.
While you shouldn’t shrug off the change, there’s also no need to panic. “Obviously, nothing happened overnight inside a woman’s body or to her health with the release of the guidelines,” says Dr. Naomi Fisher, director of hypertension service and hypertension innovation at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension, and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
The change, however, should spur you to take your blood pressure seriously. “These guidelines have been long anticipated and are very welcome by most hypertension experts. They may seem drastic, but in putting the knowledge we’ve gained from large trials into clinical practice, they will help thousands of people,” says Dr. Fisher.
Go For Lean Meats And Fish
You can still eat meat. Just make sure itâs lean. Meats are good sources of protein and magnesium. Skinless chicken and fish are also on the menu. Limit your servings to six or fewer a day. A serving is 1 ounce of cooked meat, fish, or poultry, or one egg. A good rule is to have no more than 3 ounces of meat at a meal — the size of an iPhone.Â;
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Increase Activity And Exercise More
In a 2013 study, sedentary older adults who participated in aerobic exercise training lowered their blood pressure by an average of 3.9 percent systolic and 4.5 percent diastolic . These results are as good as some blood pressure medications.
As you regularly increase your heart and breathing rates, over time your heart gets stronger and pumps with less effort. This puts less pressure on your arteries and lowers your blood pressure.
How much activity should you strive for? A 2013 report by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association advises moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity for 40-minute sessions, three to four times per week .
If finding 40 minutes at a time is a challenge, there may still be benefits when the time is divided into three or four 10- to 15-minute segments throughout the day .
The American College of Sports Medicine makes similar recommendations .
But you dont have to run marathons. Increasing your activity level can be as simple as:
- using the stairs
- going for a bike ride
- playing a team sport
Just do it regularly and work up to at least half an hour per day of moderate activity.
One example of moderate activity that can have big results is tai chi. A 2017 review on the effects of tai chi and high blood pressure shows an overall average of a 15.6 mm Hg drop in systolic blood pressure and a 10.7 mm Hg drop in diastolic blood pressure, compared to people who didnt exercise at all .
Plant Sterol And Stanol Supplements
Plant sterols and stanols are substances found in many fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and other plants. Some processed foods are also fortified with plant sterols or stanols, such as fortified margarine, orange juice, or yogurt products.
Plant sterols and stanols may help lower your risk of heart disease. They help prevent your small intestine from absorbing cholesterol. This can lower LDL cholesterol levels in your blood.
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Reduce Salt In Your Diet
You may not realise that having too much salt in your bloodstream increases your blood pressure.;
After a plate of salty chips, your bloodstream is teaming with sodium chloride . To lower the blood concentration of sodium, your kidneys have to work hard and reabsorb a lot of water. This increases your blood volume and means your heart is under increased stress pumping this increased load.
Salt is often hidden in foods, such as breakfast cereals, bread, salad dressings, sauces, and frozen foods.
The World Health Organisation recommends no more than 5g salt per day most UK adults eat around 9/12 mg/day twice this amount.
Blood Pressure: What Does It Mean
Simply put, blood pressure is the pressure of blood pushing against your arteries which carry blood from your heart to other parts of your body. A medical provider will check your blood pressure manually with an inflatable arm cuff and a stethoscope or by using an automated machine. Your blood pressure reading will include two numbers systolic and diastolic pressure and be formatted like a fraction.
Systolic blood pressure is the top number of the fraction. This measures how much pressure your blood exerts against your artery walls when your heart beats. Diastolic blood pressure is the bottom number and measures the pressure exerted against your artery walls when the heart is relaxed in between beats.
In November 2017, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology issued new guidelines for evaluating blood pressure in adults. This included new ranges for what is considered normal blood pressure to stage 2 hypertension. These new guidelines lowered what was once considered to be the normal blood pressure range. We wrote a blog post about the updated guidelines which are still in effect just after they were released. You can read that post which outlines the current blood pressure ranges .
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Home Remedy For Lower Cholesterol #2 Get More Vitamin C
As an antioxidant, vitamin C helps to reduce inflammation. A 2008 study showed a significant decrease in serum LDL cholesterol and tryglyceride concentrations with the supplementation of at least 500mg/d of vitamin C. Some good sources of vitamin C include:
- citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes
- kiwi
- sweet bell peppers green or red
- cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and kale
- sweet potatoes
Focus On Monounsaturated Fats
As opposed to saturated fats, unsaturated fats have at least one double chemical bond that changes the way they are used in the body. Monounsaturated fats have only one double bond.
Although some recommend a low-fat diet for weight loss, a study of 10 men found a 6-week, low-fat diet reduced levels of harmful LDL, but also reduced beneficial HDL .
In contrast, a diet high in monounsaturated fats reduced harmful LDL, but also protected higher levels of healthy HDL.
A study of 24 adults with high blood cholesterol came to the same conclusion, where eating a diet high in monounsaturated fat increased beneficial HDL by 12%, compared to a diet low in saturated fat .
Monounsaturated fats may also reduce the oxidation of lipoproteins, which contributes to clogged arteries. A study of 26 people found that replacing polyunsaturated fats with monounsaturated fats in the diet reduced the oxidation of fats and cholesterol (
You can find olive oil and canola oil online.
summary
Monounsaturated fats like those in olive oil, canola oil, tree nuts and avocados reduce the bad LDL, increase the good HDL and reduce the oxidation that contributes to clogged arteries.
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Make Friends With Your Doctor
Don’t assume that just because your body weight, exercise habits and diet are healthy that your blood cholesterol and blood pressure levels are too. Your genes may predispose you to cardiovascular disease. Talk with your health care provider about heart-related screens that might be important for you.
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Best Foods To Lower Cholesterol And Blood Pressure
One of the major reasons for high cholesterol and elevated blood pressure is unhealthy eating. There are many foods which can cause elevated cholesterol levels and can increase your blood pressure.;Good thing is;you can lower cholesterol and blood pressure by eating the right foods. LDL is the bad cholesterol. It can clog the blood vessels and is harmful for your body. To control your cholesterol levels cut back on the foods containing high amounts of LDL.
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What Is Good Blood Pressure
A good, normal blood pressure readingtaken while seated, with a blood pressure cuffshould be 120/80. The first number is the systolic blood pressure , and the second is the diastolic blood pressure . Anything over that is either considered elevated or high.
Those numbers apply across the board for adults over the age of 18, Dr. Osborne says. He notes that decades ago, good blood pressure numbers varied based on age, limits some people still cling to today. But in actuality, its all standardized to 120/80.
The vast majority of hypertension out there is in adults, he says. Its independent of age. It doesnt matter whether youre 21 or 81. The numbers are the same.
For adults, that is. For kids, its a little different. Blood pressure numbers are based on population and age, and are generally lower than with adults. Theres not a standardized set of guidelines for children, but certainly if you come across a kid that repeatedly has blood pressures that would be high according to the adult category, its high, Dr. Osborne explains.
Causes Of High Blood Pressure
Theres no single cause of high blood pressure, but rather many contributing factors. Some are out of your control, such as age, race, gender, and family historyblood pressure tends to increase over the age of 70, affects more women than men over the age of 55, and is more common in African Americans than Caucasians, perhaps due to a genetic sensitivity to salt.
Many other risk factors for hypertension are within your control. Being overweight, eating a poor diet high in salt, smoking, drinking excessively, and not getting enough physical exercise can all impact your blood pressure.
There are also specific substances that can raise your blood pressure, such as:
- Caffeine, including coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks.
- Prescription medications, including some of those used to treat ADHD, birth control pills, corticosteroids, atypical antipsychotics, MAOIs and SNRIs used to treat depression, and some cancer drugs. ;
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , such as aspirin and ibuprofen .
- Cough and cold medications containing decongestant or NSAIDs.
- Herbal supplements, such as ephedra and yohimbine.
- Recreational drugs, such as cocaine and methamphetamine.
- Licorice found in some candies and gum.
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How To Reduce Stress
- Take control of your stress when you stop feeling helpless things will feel better.
Reach out to friends and family, get connected, and share your troubles. Its good to talk.
- Find a new interest get involved with a group, an activity, or develop a new hobby or pastime. Maybe now is the time to learn a new language or a new skill?
- Get outside in the fresh air and enjoy some green spaces. Being in the countryside amongst trees and plants has been shown to lower stress. Why not take up gardening?
- Learn to relax try Mindfulness a form of meditation or take up yoga. Making time for relaxation is very important for your health.
Try Having One Vegetarian Meal Every Week
Dont let the word vegetarian scare you. By choosing a smartly prepared vegetarian meal, youre hitting multiple cholesterol-lowering goals at the same time, like eating healthier fats and getting more soluble fiber. Plus, many vegetarian meals are just as flavorful and filling as their meaty cousins.
Heres one idea for a low-cholesterol recipe: Try a freshly prepared salad with a sesame vinaigrette and some grilled, spiced tofu. For dessert, add some fresh blueberries, strawberries and oats to low-fat vanilla yogurt.
The key here is to build up a routine, like making every Tuesday night vegetarian night. Once that becomes the norm, try expanding to different nights, or add a weekly vegetarian lunch, too. You can also be flexitarian by just eating smaller portions of meat. Over time, these modifications can really add up and pay off.
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Dr Deborah Lee Dr Fox Online Pharmacy Tells Us About All The Way You Can Naturally Lower Your Blood Pressure Without Medical Intervention
Have you recently been told you have high blood pressure? This can be a nasty shock.
Having high blood pressure increase your risk of strokes, heart attacks, and kidney failure. You may have been asked to reattend the GP surgery for a series of blood pressure readings, or perhaps youve been put on blood pressure medication?
But did you know there is a lot you can do to lower your blood pressure naturally?
Read on and find out more.
Modify Your Risk Factors
High cholesterol is usually treated based on total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol levels, plus the presence of additional risk factors for heart disease. While some cannot be changed, some can:
- Previous heart attack
- Family history of early heart disease
- Age over 45 in men and greater than 55 in women
- 10-year risk of a heart attack greater than 20%
Of these, not smoking is something you take action on. You can also treat your high blood pressure and diabetes to keep them under control.
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/ You Went Through A Range Of Medications For High Blood Pressure Treatment But Your Blood Pressure Is Still On The High Level Life Threateningly Risks Is Greater:
In fact, doctors explained how many different treatments. They told what could go wrong with the treatments because they mostly came with side effects.
Because of everyone is living in a pill-popping industrial health society, the health industry prescribes pills to address symptoms of an illness. You can through a range of medications, but the bottom line was that your blood pressures remained much too high. And the illnesses that follow high blood pressure include paralysis by the stroke, or death by heart disease.
- The illnesses that follow high blood pressure include paralysis by the stroke, or death by heart disease
Home Remedy For Lower Cholesterol #1 Increase Your Magnesium Levels
In The Magnesium Miracle, Dr. Carolyn Dean explains how magnesium acts as a natural statin, limiting cholesterol production so that it covers necessary functions but is not produced in excess.
Foods that are high in magnesium include:; kelp, wheat bran, wheat germ, almonds, cashews, molasses, brewer’s yeast, buckwheat, brazil nuts, dulse, filberts, peanuts, wheat grain, millet, pecans, English walnuts, rye, tofu and dark chocolate.
Many wild plants are also high in magnesium, such as burdock root, dandelion, chickweed and nettle. It may be difficult for people to get enough magnesium through diet, so applying magnesium oil topically can also be helpful.
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Use Polyunsaturated Fats Especially Omega
Polyunsaturated fats have multiple double bonds that make them behave differently in the body than saturated fats. Research shows that polyunsaturated fats reduce bad LDL cholesterol and decrease the risk of heart disease.
For example, one study replaced saturated fats in 115 adults diets with polyunsaturated fats for eight weeks. By the end, total and LDL cholesterol levels were reduced by about 10% .
Another study included 13,614 adults. They replaced dietary saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat, providing about 15% of total calories. Their risk of coronary artery disease dropped by nearly 20% .
Polyunsaturated fats also seem to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
Another study changed the diets of 4,220 adults, replacing 5% of their calories from carbohydrates with polyunsaturated fats. Their blood glucose and fasting insulin levels decreased, indicating a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes .
Omega-3 fatty acids are an especially heart-healthy type of polyunsaturated fat. Theyre found in seafood and fish oil supplements .
Omega-3 fats are found in high amounts in fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, herring and deep sea tuna like bluefin or albacore, and to a lesser degree in shellfish including shrimp .
Other sources of omega-3s include seeds and tree nuts, but not peanuts.
summary
All polyunsaturated fats are heart-healthy and may reduce the risk of diabetes. Omega-3 fats are a type of polyunsaturated fat with extra heart benefits.