How Can I Reduce High Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a fatty substance known as a lipid. It is vital for the normal functioning of the body. However, having an excessively high level of lipids in your blood can affect your health. High cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease, hypertension, and stroke.
Why Should I Lower My Cholesterol?
Evidence strongly indicates that high cholesterol can increase the risk of life-threatening diseases. Reducing your cholesterol level may also prevent you from health risks such as stroke and heart attack. Healthy cholesterol levels lower your risk of atherosclerosis, mini-stroke, and peripheral arterial disease.
High-fat levels can build up in the artery wall, restricting the blood flow to your heart, brain, and the rest of your body. It also increases the risk of a blood clot developing somewhere in your body. Lowering HDL reduces pain in your chest or arm during stress or physical activity.
Ways to Lower Your Cholesterol
- Eat less fatty foods, incredibly saturated fats. Increase your intake of healthy fats such as nuts, seeds, salmon, and mackerel. Opt for brown rice than white rice, bread, and pasta.
- Exercise more and aim to do at least 150 minutes of exercise a week. Try to incorporate walking and cycling. Light exercise burns excess calories.
- Stop smoking because cigarette makes you more likely to have severe problems like heart attacks, strokes, and cancer.
- Cut down on alcohol to reduce the rapid deposition of unhealthy fats in the body.
Best Exercises for Lowering Cholesterol
- Running or jogging helps manage weight. An easy jog for a few miles may be better for lowering cholesterol than a fast sprint around the block.
- Take a brisk walk every morning as part of your cardio exercise. Walking can often be a much better exercise to protect joint health.
- Try cycling. Bike to work or just for fun to expend the same energy as jogging. It also helps you to be less likely to develop high cholesterol than those who don’t.
- Lift a few weights. It is the type of exercise most commonly recommended to reduce heart disease risk.
Medication to Reduce High Cholesterol
Atorvastatin is a recommended medication to reduce high cholesterol in the blood. It works by blocking an enzyme needed by the body to make cholesterol, thereby reducing the amount of cholesterol in the blood.