Exercise For 30 Minutes At Least 5 Days A Week
Pack Walnuts With Lunch
A snack that helps lower cholesterol can still be satisfying. About 1.5 ounces of nuts per day are part of a heart-healthy diet, says Blake. Nuts can take the edge off hunger when you might otherwise end up snacking on unhealthy options that wont improve cholesterol. The same Spanish study that demonstrated the benefits of olive oil found that replacing 40 percent of your daily saturated fat with about this amount of walnuts or almonds lowered LDL cholesterol by 10.8 and 13.4 percent, respectively.
Cook With Vegetable Oil
You May Like: What Are High Levels Of Triglycerides
Myth: I Cant Do Anything To Change My Cholesterol Levels
Fact: You can do many things to improve your cholesterol levels and keep them in a healthy range!
- Get tested at least every 5 years .1,2 Learn more about cholesterol screenings.
- Make healthy food choices. Limit foods high in saturated fats. Choose foods naturally high in fiber and unsaturated fats. Learn more about healthy diets and nutrition at CDCs nutrition, physical activity, and obesity website.
- Be active every day. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity each week. Learn more about physical activity basics and tips.
- Dont smoke or use tobacco products. Smoking damages your blood vessels, speeds up the hardening of the arteries, and greatly increases your risk for heart disease. If you dont smoke, dont start. If you do smoke, quitting will lower your risk for heart disease. Learn more about tobacco use and ways to quit at CDCs smoking and tobacco use website.
- Talk with your health care provider about ways to manage your cholesterol if any medicines are given to you to manage your cholesterol, take them as they are prescribed. Learn more about medicines to lower cholesterol.
- Know your family history. If your parents or other immediate family members have high cholesterol, you probably should be tested more often. You could have a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia .
Eat Less To Lose Weight
High triglycerides come from regularly eating more calories than your body burns, so eating less overall is one of the best ways to start reining them in.
How much less, exactly? You may want to cut back by 500 to 1,000 calories a day, depending on how many calories youre consuming. Thats enough to help you lose weight, which is key.
Dropping 5 to 10 percent of your body weight is enough to reduce your triglycerides significantly. But definitely get the OK from your doctor before making any major changes to your diet.
Read Also: How Quickly Can Diet And Exercise Lower Cholesterol
Myth: All Cholesterol Is Bad For You
Fact: Some types of cholesterol are essential for good health. Your body needs cholesterol to perform important jobs, such as making hormones and building cells. Cholesterol travels through the blood on proteins called lipoproteins. Two types of lipoproteins carry cholesterol throughout the body:
- LDL , sometimes called bad cholesterol, makes up most of your bodys cholesterol. High levels of LDL cholesterol raise your risk for heart disease and stroke.
- HDL , or good cholesterol, carries cholesterol back to the liver. The liver then flushes it from the body. High levels of HDL cholesterol can lower your risk for heart disease and stroke.
When your body has too much LDL cholesterol, it can build up in the walls of your blood vessels. This buildup is called plaque. As your blood vessels build up plaque over time, the insides of the vessels narrow. This narrowing can restrict and eventually block blood flow to and from your heart and other organs. When blood flow to the heart is blocked, it can cause angina or a heart attack.
Try To Reduce The Amount Of Saturated Fat You Consume
There is a controversy about the role of saturated fats on your cholesterol levels. The medical establishment talks about the great damage of saturated fat that increases the level of cholesterol in your blood. The American Heart Association recommends to limit the amount of saturated fats you eat to less than 7% of your total daily calories.
That means, for example, that if you need about 2,000 calories a day, then maximum 140 of them should come from saturated fats. Thats about 16 grams of saturated fats a day.
Common foods that contain saturated fat come mainly from animal sources, for example: butter, fatty beef, lamb or pork, poultry with skin, lard and cream. Also pastries and many baked and fried foods can contain high levels of saturated fats. Some plant foods, such as palm oil and coconut oil also contain saturated fats, but dont contain cholesterol.
However newer research claims that its true that saturated fats mildly increase the bad cholesterol , but only the large particles which are not associated with cardiovascular conditions. In any case, eat saturated fat in moderation.
Don’t Miss: Diet For Low Cholesterol And Low Triglycerides Diet
Consider Cutting Back On Carbs
You dont have to go full keto. But some research suggests that lower carb diets are tied to healthier triglyceride levels.
How low should you go? In a 2006 study, people who consumed about a quarter of their calories from carbs lowered their triglycerides more than those who got more than half their calories from carbs.
Supplements To Lower Cholesterol
Some companies sell supplements that they say can lower cholesterol. Researchers have studied many of these supplements, including red yeast rice, flaxseed, and garlic. At this time, there isn’t conclusive evidence that any of them are effective in lowering cholesterol levels. Also, supplements may cause side effects and interactions with medicines. Always check with your health care provider before you take any supplements.
Read Also: Is Avocado Ok For High Cholesterol
Add Foods Fortified With Sterols And Stanols
How To Lower Cholesterol In Seven Days According To A Nutritionist
Consider this your day-by-day guide to getting your cholesterol levels down and your health a kickstart in seven days.
Photo: iStock
Consider this your day-by-day guide to getting your cholesterol levels down and your health a kickstart in seven days.
Changing something as important as your cholesterol might seem an insurmountable task. Here, nutritionist Lisa Guy gives seven day-by-day tips to help you on your way.
Monday
Increase your fruit and vegie intake. They are rich in important nutrients, low in saturated fats and are cholesterol-free. They are also rich in fibre, which has a cholesterol-lowering effect. Aim to have at least five serves a day, and to eat a variety of different coloured fruits and vegies each day.
Tuesday
Reduce your intake of unhealthy fats. Saturated and trans fats raise blood cholesterol levels. Trans fats are the worst, so limit your intake of processed and fast foods. Choose low-fat dairy products, healthy oils such as olive oil, and flaxseed oil instead of butter. Trim fat from meat and skin from poultry.
Wednesday
Cook with olive oil, a source of healthy monounsaturated fats. It has a higher oxidation threshold than most monounsaturated oils and remains stable at higher temperatures, so is more resistant to hydrogenation and the formation of trans fats. Monounsaturated fats help to lower total cholesterol levels.
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Read Also: Is Total Cholesterol Hdl Plus Ldl
Easy Steps To Reduce Cholesterol In 30 Days
If you have been told that you have high cholesterol, its time to do something about it. High cholesterol puts you at serious risk of heart attacks, stroke, and other dangerous cardiovascular events.
Fortunately, you can reduce your cholesterol relatively quickly and easily if you follow these five steps.
How Can I Lower My Cholesterol With Medicines
As well as making lifestyle changes, some people will need to take cholesterol-lowering medicines to reduce their risk of heart and blood vessel disease, known as cardiovascular disease. The medicines most commonly used are called statins.
Your doctor will consider all your risk factors for cardiovascular disease before suggesting medication not just your cholesterol and lipid results. If youve already had a heart attack or stroke, taking statins can substantially lower your risk of having another one.
Statins work by slowing the amount of cholesterol made in your liver. In response, your liver uses the cholesterol already in your blood to make up for the deficit. This lowers the level of LDL cholesterol in your blood.
If statins alone do not lower your cholesterol enough, you may need additional medicines.
Contact your doctor if your medicines are causing any side effects.
Don’t Miss: How Often Should You Get Your Cholesterol Levels Checked
How Can I Lower My Cholesterol By Making Lifestyle Changes
You can lower your cholesterol levels by making lifestyle changes, and through taking medicines if that’s what your doctor advises. Some people will only need to improve their lifestyle and diet to get their cholesterol to a safe level. Others may need to take cholesterol-lowering medicines, as well.
Focus On Fruits Vegetables Whole Grains And Beans
Our typical American diet is now abbreviated as SAD by scientists nationwide because its full of foods that do sad things to both hearts and waistlines. Hyperprocessed foods like potato chips and French fries. Sugar-saturated drinks. And fatty, artery-clogging meats and full-fat dairy foods like cheese.
We dont have to become complete vegetarians to get our cholesterol levels into healthy ranges, studies on the Pritikin Program have found, but clearly, the more vegetables, fruits, potatoes, and other naturally-fiber-rich plant foods we eat, the healthier well be.
Plant foods high in soluble fiber are especially beneficial in lowering total and LDL bad cholesterol levels. Good sources include beans , yams, oats , barley, and berries.
For simple tips on bringing more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans into your life, here is a 5-day sample healthy meal plan from the doctors and dietitians at Pritikin Longevity Center.
You May Like: How To Lower Ldl Cholesterol
Simple Ways To Naturally Lower Cholesterol Levels
What is cholesterol and how do you lower cholesterol without taking drugs prescribed from your doctor?
Cholesterol, a waxy substance that the body uses to make hormones and other important substances. Its also found in some foods such as eggs, meat, poultry, and whole-milk dairy products.
The level of cholesterol in your blood is called blood cholesterol. If its too high over time, you may develop heart disease or stroke.
We have all heard that having a high cholesterol level can lead to many life-threatening conditions, but did you know that there is good and bad cholesterol?
The good cholesterol is called HDL Cholesterol, while the bad is called LDL Cholesterol.
Contents
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
Read Also: What Is Bad Cholesterol Caused By
What Foods Will Lower My Cholesterol
The best way to eat a better diet is to swap your saturated fats with foods that are high in unsaturated fat like vegetable oils , nuts seeds and avocado and oily fish.
A few small swaps can make a big difference to your cholesterol level. Many people say they dont notice the difference. Try:
- swapping butter to vegetable oil spreads like sunflower, olive or rapeseed oil spreads
- switching whole milk to skimmed milk
- using natural yogurt instead of sour cream or double cream
- replacing regular mince with leaner, lower fat options
- swapping red or processed meat for fish, turkey or chicken without the skin, or plant-based proteins such as lentils, soya or Quorn
- switch your crisps for unsalted nuts
- having reduced fat cheese instead of regular cheese
- ordering less takeaways. Instead try our healthy comfort foods for delicious heart-healthy options.
Home Remedy For Lower Cholesterol #14 Ditch Transfats Don’t Smoke And Eat Less Processed Food
What you shouldn’t eat is as important as what you should eat. The FDA has *finally* admitted that transfats are bad, after allowing them to dominate the market for years.
Of course, manufacturers are likely to come up with some other modified goobledegook that is equally as nasty.
When choosing fats , look for less processed options. As the saying goes, I trust cows more than chemists, which is why I eat butter.
Shop around the edges of the grocery store, and look for minimally processed items.
Buy real vegetables and fruit, fresh meat and dairy. Learn to bake your own bread. You can check out our Recipes page for a wide assortment of homemade fare.
Read Also: How To Decrease Bad Cholesterol
Foods To Avoid When Cholesterol Is High
Most foods to avoid contain excess saturated fats which raise cholesterol.
They can be found everywhere and especially in dairy products.
So you need to choose low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese.
These saturated fats are also present in beef and pork as well as in chicken skin.
Prefer lean meats such as turkey, chicken , and fish.
You should also limit your consumption of fried foods and prepared foods.
Trans fatty acids are also harmful fats.
Its basically an artificial fat found in donuts, frozen pizza, margarine, etc.
It is recommended to limit the consumption of added sugars by slowing down cakes, cookies, ice cream, sugary drinks.
Home Remedy For Lower Cholesterol #4 Add Some Vitamin K2 To Your Diet
In the book Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox, the author explains how vitamin K2 packs a one-two punch when it comes to heart disease.
While K2 can lower serum cholesterol, more importantly, K2 reduces atherosclerois, i.e. plaque accumulation in the arteries. This plaque is the deposits of calcium, fatty substances and scar tissue that together cause hardening of the arteries.
With plaque build up, the arteries either clog up and reduce or stop blood flow entirely, or get fragile and have a blow out. Vitamin K2 is not the same as vitamin K1, which is abundant in leafy greens and great for bone building.
Vitamin K2 works in concert with calcium and vitamin D, making sure the calcium gets where it’s needed in your bones, not your muscles and arteries.
In addition, vitamin K2 can remove calcium buildup in the arteries after it has formed and help restore arterial flexibility.
The best source of vitamin K2 is natto, a fermented soybean concoction with a stringy, slimy texture.
Other sources of vitamin K2 include goose liver pate, hard cheeses , soft cheeses , egg yolk, butter and chicken liver.
Most people in the US are low in vitamin K2, although regular cheese eaters tend to far better than the general population. You can also buy a K2 supplement made from natto.
Don’t Miss: Does Drinking Beer Affect Your Cholesterol
Can Exercise Help To Lower Cholesterol
Yes it can. Getting your blood pumping by doing exercise will reduce your cholesterol. Being active helps your body move the bad cholesterol to your liver where it can be removed out of your system.
You dont have to join a gym or go on long runs if you dont enjoy it, just look for chances to move more every day. Many people find that being active improves their mood so they make healthier food choices. You could try:
- taking the stairs instead of the lift
- a brisk walk instead of a slow walk
- doing two-minute bursts of jumping jacks several times a day
- yoga or pilates if you cant get out
- our exercises to do if youre stuck at home.