If you want to be healthy, you don't just want to lower your bad cholesterol levels; you also want to get your good cholesterol levels up. Good cholesterol---a high-density lipoprotein that moves through your bloodstream looking for excess bad cholesterol, which it picks up and carries to liver for elimination---plays an important role in minimizing the harmful effects of bad cholesterol, as well as improving your overall cardiovascular health. The American Heart Association recommends keeping your HDL level higher than 60 mg/dL to get maximum protective benefits.
Step 1
Be active. A sedentary lifestyle correlates to lower HDL levels, so engaging in regular physical activity helps to increase your body's HDL. The American Heart Association recommends getting 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity four or more days a week to improve HDL.
Step 2
Reach a healthy weight. Being overweight is associated with decreased HDL levels, so if you're carrying extra pounds, start a diet and exercise program. The good news is that it doesn't take much weight loss to improve your HDL. The Mayo Clinic says you can expect to see as much as a 0.35 mg/dL increase in HDL every time you drop 1 pound of weight.
Step 3
Don't smoke. Smoking cigarettes causes a significant drop in HDL levels; quitting causes a corresponding increase in HDL.
Step 4
Change your diet to include less fried food, processed food and refined carbohydrates. Instead, try to eat more fatty fish, like salmon and tuna, whole grains, leafy green vegetables and olive oil. The omega-3 fatty acids in these heart-healthy choices help improve your good cholesterol levels---and help to make your good cholesterol work more effectively.
Tips and Warnings
- It's important to monitor your entire cholesterol profile, as well as your HDL level. The American Heart Association recommends maintaining an LDL level lower than 129 mg/dL and a triglyceride level lower than 150 mg/dL. Women often have naturally higher HDL levels than men because estrogen increases HDL. HDL levels lower than 40 mg/dL for men and lower than 50 mg/dL for women are considered dangerously low.
- Talk to your health care provider to be sure you're healthy enough for diet and exercise before starting any weight-loss program.
