Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Five effective ways on how to lower cholesterol

Several medications, diets and exercises answer the question of how to lower cholesterol in an effective manner. Studies have found that higher cholesterol is one of the prime reasons in near bout 50% reported deaths due to heart attack and cardiovascular diseases. Elevated cholesterol content contributes towards narrowing the blood arteries and restricting the regular flow of blood into heart. This clogging is the main reason behind several heart and cardiovascular diseases. In this article, we will focus on the ways to reduce cholesterol level with lease side effects.
Knowledge- The first step of how to lower cholesterol

Proper knowledge about cholesterol sources, their formation process in body and factors that can raise cholesterol content helps significantly to control the cholesterol level. Cholesterol is found only in animals and animal products. Inside human body, liver produces cholesterol. All cholesterol are not harmful for human body. HDL or high-density lipoprotein is the beneficial cholesterol. Low-density lipoprotein or LDL is the harmful cholesterol. Higher cholesterol content is the number one killer in America.
Diet- an integral component of cholesterol control process:

Low cholesterol diet boosts your struggle against increased cholesterol content in blood. You need to avoid food products having higher saturated fat content. Animal fat rich food products like cheese, ice cream, red meat and sea fish can boost cholesterol level in your blood. Some of the vegetable fats are also responsible for increased cholesterol level in human body. They are coconut oil, palm oil and cocoa butter. Substituting saturated fat with unsaturated fat can help you in keeping your cholesterol content under control. Some of the popular unsaturated food products are sunflower, corn, soybean and cottonseed. Along with, you need to avoid hydrogenated fat and foods rich in complex carbohydrates.

Weight matters:

Controlling your body mass index is immensely beneficial to lower down the cholesterol level. Studies have found that people with higher body mass index are more prone to elevated cholesterol storage. Intake of lower calories, daily physical exercise and regularity in diet pattern can help in maintaining your body mass index.

Effective medications to lower cholesterol level:

Doctors generally prescribe Statins, nicotinic acid and bile-acid resins and fibrates to curb unchecked cholesterol content in body. These medications aim at reducing LDL content, pushing up HDL and preventing reabsorb of cholesterol by circulatory system. These drugs can be prescribed independently or in combination. However, these drugs have several side effects like live disorder, nausea, and gall stone. Hence, proper doctor consultation is required before you take these drugs to control cholesterol.
Healthy lifestyle and reduction of cholesterol:

Sticking to healthy lifestyle is imperative for achieving the desired results from the above methods. Overeating and skipping meals should be avoided. Excessive consumption of alcohol and caffeine exerts adverse effects on cholesterol level. Smoking should be avoided too. Pregnant women and senior citizens should be more cautious regarding the diet. You should maintain regularity in daily exercises. Regular physical exercising of 30 minutes can help you in keeping your body cholesterol under control.