Live Healthy Fit

Cholesterol is a kind of fatty substance that is found in some foods and is also produced within the body. Our body needs it but too high cholesterol levels can cause heart disease and stroke.

If your cholesterol levels are high you may want to try some of the following ideas to get achieve better cholesterol levels. A healthy diet and active lifestyle are the two main ways to lower your cholesterol levels, other than medication that can be prescribed by your doctor.

Diet tips for improving cholesterol levels

Reduce saturated fats: eating saturated fats makes your liver produce more bad cholesterol.

Foods that tend to be high in saturated fats are biscuits, cakes, pastries, red meat, hard cheese, and butter so cut down on these foods and / or check the levels of saturated fat they contain.

There are some foods that contain high cholesterol levels and although it is believed these may not affect blood cholesterol levels much it would still be wise to limit the amount of these foods. Some examples are eggs, liver and kidney.

A healthy low cholesterol diet should also contain plenty of fibre. This is found in fruits and vegetables, legumes and grains. Try to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day.

There are also some foods that are supposed to contain something that can help lower cholesterol levels, an example is Flora Pro Activ.

Tips to change your shopping and eating habits when concerned about cholesterol levels

• Use non-stick vegetable or olive oil cooking sprays instead of oils.
• Buy leaner cuts of meat, and eat fish, skinless poultry instead of beef.
• Look for low-fat snacks that have been baked instead of fried.
• Try low-fat dairy products, such as skim milk, and low-fat cheese, yoghurt and margarine.
• Try to eat fruit instead of sweets.
• Eat no more than 4 egg yolks a week (you can use egg whites or egg substitutes in cooking).
• Bake, broil, steam or grill foods instead of frying them.
• Avoid "fast foods" which are high in fat.

Exercise can help lower your cholesterol levels in several ways:

• It increases the amount of good cholesterol that you need in your blood and reduces the amount of bad cholesterol levels.
• It promotes weight loss and weight control, being over weight throws the cholesterol levels in your body out of balance.

Tips to get some more exercise in your normal days:

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Walk during a coffee break or lunch.
• If you have someone mow your lawn, do it yourself and the rest of the gardening.
• Walking in a park or hiking makes a great weekend activity.
• Walk or ride to work, or park at the end of the parking lot so you have to walk farther.
• Walk more briskly as you do your normal things like shopping.
• Do housework at a faster pace and more often. Things like mopping the floor are quite a workout.

Useful resources: American Heart Association | American Academy of Family Physicians