Facts on Lowering Cholesterol

1. Healthy Diets Lower Cholesterol

According to a 2007 study by the American Heart Association, nearly half of all adults have high cholesterol. Cholesterol is a type of fat your cells produce naturally, but lowering cholesterol levels can be as easy as eating a healthy diet. You should eat foods that are low in fat, transfat free and low in cholesterol. Focus on eating eight to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, whole grains, fat free or low fat dairy products, lean meat, poultry and fish, beans, seeds and nuts and healthy oils, such as canola and olive oil. Reduce the amount of saturated fat from your diet, including butter and margarine. Limit foods made with whole milk or cream and reduce high cholesterol foods such as cheese and eggs yolks. Additionally, avoid processed foods like lunch meat.

2. Be a Smart Cook

When cooking, drain the fat from your food. Use wine or fruit juice to make gravy instead of fat drippings. Broil, bake or grill your food instead of pan frying. Use a vegetable oil spray instead of butter to coat your pan. Substitute low fat options when baking and cooking and make smaller portions.

3. Exercise Your Heart

Develop and maintain an exercise program. Focus on cardiovascular exercises, like brisk walking and jumping rope, which keep your blood pumping and the walls of your arteries free from cholesterol buildup. Aim for 30 minutes of exercise a day. If you have children, encourage them to exercise as well. Make exercise a family event and part of your normal routine.

4. Take Your Medicine

Talk with your doctor about taking medication to help lower your cholesterol. These medications, called statins, slow down the production of bad cholesterol and increase the rate at which your liver gets rid of it from the body. Sometimes diet and exercise just aren't enough and medication can target the cholesterol that your body produces naturally. A doctor can prescribe a cholesterol-lowering medication, such as Lipitor, in conjunction with healthy eating and exercise to help lower your cholesterol. You may experience upset stomach or constipation while taking medication to lower cholesterol, but the side effects are generally tolerable.

5. Get Screened

Have your doctor perform routine screens for high cholesterol every one to two years, beginning at the age of twenty. Although overweight people tend to have higher cholesterol, naturally thin people often have misconceptions about their cholesterol level. Likewise, men typically have high cholesterol compared to women. As women age, however, the hormone that raises good cholesterol, estrogen, begins to decline, leaving them susceptible to high cholesterol. Lowering cholesterol should be a goal for every demographic, even children if they have a family history of high cholesterol and heart disease.