Lowering cholesterol with therapeutic lifestyle changes

Star Health Desk

If you are one of those craving to lower your cholesterol level with the help of only drugs, but avoiding various lifestyle changes like a physical exercise, a better diet and weight loss, you may be heading for the wrong side of the fence or very soon waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Experts pointed out fatty diet, overweight, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption and some heritable factors are responsible for high cholesterol level in our blood. Although medication can bring cholesterol levels down, high cholesterol should be prevented through Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) that includes diet management and an active lifestyle. So do not jump to medicines right away to lower cholesterol and instead make some changes in your life and get daily exercise. TLC is a set of things you can do to help lower your LDL cholesterol. The main parts of TLC are: The TLC diet
As most of our body's cholesterol is made in liver and the rest comes from our diet, it becomes vital to lower the amount of fat and cholesterol in our diet. Be mindful about limiting saturated fat (fat in meat and whole-fat dairy products) and Trans fat (fat found in many commercial foods and in deep-fried fast foods). We should take foods low in saturated fat which include: Fat-free or 1 percent dairy products, lean meats, fish, skinless poultry, whole grain foods, Fruits and vegetables. Also limit some kinds of food high in cholesterol such as liver and other organ meats, egg yolks, and full-fat dairy products. Fibre rich diet is beneficial in this regard. Good sources of soluble fiber include oats, certain fruits (such as oranges and pears) and vegetables (such as carrots), and dried peas and beans. Fibre is helpful, so try to include foods like whole-grain bread and breakfast cereals such as oats, and a variety of fruit and vegetables. Of late, oats has received thumbs up from doctors across the world for the sponge effect it provides to absorb fat rich cholesterol from the system and aiding digestion. Weight management
Losing weight if you are overweight can help lower LDL, the bad cholesterol and is especially important for those with a cluster of risk factors that includes high triglyceride (TG) in blood and/or low HDL levels and being overweight with a large waist measurement. Physical activity
Regular physical activity (30 minutes) is recommended for everyone. It can help raise the good cholesterol or HDL and lower LDL and is especially important for those with high triglyceride and/or low HDL levels who are overweight with a large waist measurement. Try taking the stairs, walking to the shops or going to the gym, which helps your heart stay healthy. For those who are motivated to reduce their too-high cholesterol levels, there is always a treatment trade-off to be made., when it comes for choosing a healthy long life nothing beats patience and the right lifestyle and the right time for heart check ups irrespective of your young age.