High blood cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol can build up in your arteries and cause a blockage. Keeping your LDL cholesterol level below 130 mg/dL is best, and there are two common ways of lowering blood cholesterol; drug therapy and lifestyle changes. Being overweight is one factor that contributes to high cholesterol levels, and losing weight is one of the lifestyle changes used to lower and maintain a desirable cholesterol level.
The TLC Program
The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute recommends the Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC) program as a way to control your cholesterol levels, indicating that losing weight will help to lower your cholesterol level. The TLC program advocates adopting a cholesterol-lowering diet coupled with physical exercise. The diet has the following recommendations: Consume just enough calories to get and keep your body weight in the healthy range; limit your fat and cholesterol intake; add more soluble fiber to your diet; and consume products with plant sterols and stanols, which are substances that lower cholesterol. This program is meant to be a long-term intervention rather than a fad diet, and the changes will help with weight management, which will impact your cholesterol level.
Clinical Research
A 1993 study published in the "Journal of Lipid Research" had moderately obese subjects divided into two groups: A sequential group was put on a low saturated fat diet for seven weeks followed by a low saturated fat, low calorie diet for 13 weeks; the second group, the simultaneous group, was placed on a low saturated fat, low calorie diet for 13 weeks. At the end of the study, an average weight loss of 13 kg -- about 29 lb. -- was seen in both groups. Data on body composition and cholesterol levels was collected at different points throughout the study, and analysis of the data of the sequential group yielded the following information: The low saturated fat diet lowered cholesterol levels, but the subsequent weight loss segment of the study that was based on a caloric deficit, caused an additional decrease. The researchers noted that weight loss accounted for 50 percent of the decrease in total cholesterol and 60 percent of the decrease in LDL cholesterol.
Supporting Research
The journal "Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics" reported a 2004 study where subjects were fed a low calorie diet for six months. The study was designed to evaluate the effect of the drug orlistat for reducing cholesterol levels, but the subjects in the control group, who were given a placebo instead of orlistat, showed an average weight loss of 4.9 kg -- almost 11 lbs. -- and this was accompanied by a 10 to 15 mg/dL decrease in cholesterol level. Since the only dietary change noted was calorie restriction, it appears that weight loss may be a viable intervention for lowering cholesterol.
Considerations
With the scientific support of weight loss as a cholesterol-lowering tool, it is important to recognize ways to achieve weight loss. Your diet will play a significant role, as will your activity level. You need to eat fewer calories than you use. Increasing your fiber intake will add volume to your meals, so you can still feel satisfied without going overboard on the calories. You should keep your fat and cholesterol intake low so your meals will be heart-healthy. The more active you are, the more calories you will use, and this will help to keep you on the correct side of the calorie balance, using more than you eat. A program of moderate exercise 30 minutes each day will burn calories, increase your strength, help you stay fit and contribute to keeping your cholesterol level in check.
References
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; High Blood Cholesterol: What You Need to Know; June 2005
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: High Blood Cholesterol
- "Journal of Lipid Research"; Effect of Weight Loss on Serum Lipid Level; R. Leelen et al.; December 1993
- "Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics": Weight Loss Cholesterol Lowering; J. Erdmann et al.; June 2004
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