What Is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a form of fat found in the blood which is essential for all animal life. While the liver normally produces all that is required by the body, you can get cholesterol from foods you consume, such as milk, cheese, butter, eggs, fish, and meat. Grains like oatmeal, vegetables, and fruits don’t have any cholesterol.
You Don’t Need a Lot, Just a Little
Every cell in your body contains cholesterol that you require to help your skin, brain, and other organs effectively do their jobs. However, consuming too much cholesterol and fat isn’t healthy.
Excess cholesterol in your blood floats around and attaches to the walls of your blood vessels, causing the vessels to get narrower, stiffer, or clogged. In some cases, clogging worsens over the years resulting in atherosclerosis and eventually triggering strokes or heart attacks, and at this point, it requires high cholesterol treatment.
What Are the Types of Cholesterol?
When cholesterol gets into the blood, it combines with proteins to move throughout the bloodstream. The combination of cholesterol and protein is known as lipoproteins.
- There are two types of cholesterols:
Bad cholesterol or low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – this type carries cholesterol from the liver to your bloodstream, where it sticks to your blood vessels.
Good cholesterol or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) – this type carries cholesterol from your bloodstream back to the liver, where it can be broken down.
How Can I Prevent High Cholesterol?
Things to do to keep your cholesterol under control:
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Start exercising
Exercising allows your body to handle excess fat and cholesterol. Start slowly and only do what your body can take and then increase the intensity over time. Before you start, please consult your doctor to make sure your body can handle it. Roughly 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week is recommended. Activities to try include biking, jogging, swimming, and walking.
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Stop smoking
Studies have shown that quitting smoking can decrease your cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and reduce your risk of developing lung disease, cancers, strokes, and heart disease. Consult your physician or an addiction counselor for help. You can get social help from local support groups, friends and family, or online forums.
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Manage your weight
Try to keep your weight at a healthy level, as this can help you keep your cholesterol down. Losing just five percent of your weight is enough to reduce a significant amount of cholesterol in your body. If you have a body mass index of 25 or higher or a waist circumference of 35 inches for women (40 inches for men), your doctor may suggest you lose weight.
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Cut down on alcohol
Alcohol is low in nutrients but high in calories. So drinking a lot of alcohol can increase your risk of becoming obese. Some studies recommend a limit of two drinks for men and one drink for women per day. A 44.4ml shot of liquor, a 148ml glass of wine, or a 355ml beer qualifies as a drink.
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Reduce the amount of cholesterol you eat
People with heart complications should take less than 200mg of cholesterol per day and seek high cholesterol treatment. You can achieve this by avoiding saturated fats and trans fats, cutting down on red meat, not eating organ meats, or switching from whole fat dairy to low-fat and skim products.
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Eat fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables have lots of fiber and vitamins but very little cholesterol and fat. Starve off your hunger by starting your meals with salads or eat fruit for dessert rather than fattier alternatives such as cakes. Recommendations state that you should eat 4-5 servings of vegetables and 4-5 servings of fruit daily.
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Switch to high fiber foods
Fiber is one of the foods that act like “nature’s broom” due to its ability to lower cholesterol over time. Fiber helps you feel so full and end up eating less high cholesterol and high-calorie foods. Eating whole grains such as oatmeal, bran, brown rice, or whole grain bread is a simple way to help increase your fiber intake.
