How To Lower Your (BAD) LDL Cholesterol and Raise Your (GOOD) HDL Cholesterol
As with most healthy diets, lowering cholesterol levels requires ending an overly sedentary lifestyle and adopting an exercise routine that is as gentle and aerobic as possible. Depending on the duration, walking, biking, swimming, and running are all very healthy forms of exercise that can help pump blood to the heart and lower high cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that is found in every cell in the body. The body needs what is called good cholesterol (HDL) to produce hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help digest food.
How To Lower Cholesterol: What Are The Main Causes?
Cholesterol is a double-edged sword: it is necessary for our body, but at the same time it is harmful when produced in large quantities. In this case, it is dangerous and we need to lower cholesterol fast. The main causes of this bad cholesterol are the following
- Unhealthy eating habits, such as the consumption of many saturated fats contained in certain meats, dairy products, chocolate, industrial sweets, processed foods, and fried foods.
- Lack of physical activity and a very sedentary lifestyle with little exercise.
- Smoking can lower good cholesterol, especially in women.
- Other causes that can affect the appearance of bad cholesterol are purely genetic. These are as follows
- Cholesterol levels increase with age. Although uncommon, young people, including children and adolescents, can have high cholesterol levels.
- Family history: A family history of cholesterol may lead to elevated cholesterol levels.
- Race: Some races may have a higher risk of cholesterol. For example, African Americans tend to have higher levels of bad cholesterol than Caucasians.
- Body weight: Being overweight or obese can increase cholesterol levels.
How To Lower Cholesterol Naturally: Best Treatments And Recommendations
The best diet for lowering cholesterol is a saturated fat-free, high healthy fat diet. The maximum amount of healthy fats you can consume in a day is about 35% of your total daily caloric intake. The best sources of healthy fats are lean poultry and white veal. Avoid processed foods, sweets, pastries, and fried foods, and eat nuts and dried fruit between meals instead of French fries for snacking.
Dairy products contain cholesterol, so they need to be reduced, but by all means, try to consume skim milk and yogurt. Dietary fiber, on the other hand, is not absorbed by our body, it facilitates the passage of the intestines and is, therefore, necessary to lower cholesterol. Foods containing soluble fiber include oatmeal and wheat bran. Fruits, vegetables, and legumes are also essential in a special diet to lower cholesterol. Eating apples, bananas, oranges, and plums daily help to remove bad cholesterol, and the usual diet should also include white or black beans, lentils, and chickpeas.
In any case, a healthy diet, especially one that indicates the fight against high cholesterol should always be a rich variety of fruits and vegetables. In addition, fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids help to increase the level of good cholesterol in the blood, which has a wide range of cardiovascular benefits and therefore protects the heart. Whether canned or fresh, salmon, mackerel and tuna are all great additions to a high cholesterol diet.
Other Tips And Dietary Advice For Lowering High Cholesterol Levels
As with almost any healthy diet, lowering high cholesterol naturally requires giving up an overly sedentary lifestyle and engaging in a gentle exercise routine, including aerobic exercise, whenever possible. Depending on the duration, brisk walking, cycling, swimming and running are all very healthy exercises that can help normalize the pumping function of the heart and lower high cholesterol.
We also need to limit the amount of salt in any diet as much as possible. We should not use more than a teaspoon of salt to flavor our food each day. If the food is not tasty, we can use other seasonings, such as lemon, pepper or sauce. A low-salt diet can help lower blood pressure. We have already discussed how to lower high blood pressure through home remedies, which are also associated with high cholesterol levels, but you can also lower your blood pressure by reducing salt.
Reducing your alcohol intake is another measure you can take at home to lower your cholesterol. In addition to increasing the calories in your diet and causing rapid weight gain, alcohol can also lower your good cholesterol levels.
One of the most common causes of high cholesterol levels is being overweight, which is also strongly associated with heart disease. Therefore, limiting or completely eliminating alcohol intake can be beneficial to our health. In any case, do not exceed two glasses of low-grade alcohol for men and one glass of low-grade alcohol for women.
The best way to know what to eat is to buy fresh food, and when you buy a particular package of food, read the label to find out how much salt and sugar it contains.
With processed meats such as sausage, if you have high cholesterol, you may have to give up your usual intake until your good cholesterol is at an acceptable level. You will also most likely be asked to consult your doctor regularly and have blood tests to check your cholesterol levels.