3 Steps for Lowering LDL Cholesterol Levels

Recent cholesterol guidelines recommend you to lower LDL cholesterol levels (low density lipoprotein) to 70 mg or less if you smoke, are aged 45 years (men) or 55 (women), had a hypertension or diabetes, and other risk factors. For most people, the recommended LDL level is not to exceed 100 mg. High LDL levels are risk factors for dangerous diseases such as stroke and heart disease, two major causes of death.

When your cholesterol is high, your doctor may prescribe cholesterol-lowering (statin and the like). Cholesterol-lowering drugs like that though necessary in the short term but should not be your primary choice in the long run. Cholesterol levels can generally be managed naturally with lifestyle changes for the better. Apply the five steps to reduce levels of bad cholesterol in your body:

A. Avoid foods high in cholesterol

The first thing you should do is avoid foods that can raise levels of bad cholesterol in your body:

   1. Saturated Fat:

   Saturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids have no double bonds among the individual carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain. That is, the chain of carbon atom is fully "saturated" with hydrogen atoms. There are many kinds of naturally occurring saturated fatty acids, which differ mainly in amount of carbon atoms, from three carbons (propionic acid) to 36 (hexatriacontanoic acid).

Various fats contain different proportions of saturated and unsaturated fat. Examples of foods containing a high proportion of saturated fat include animal fats such as cream, cheese, butter, and ghee; suet, tallow, lard, and fatty meats; as well as certain vegetable products such as coconut oil, cottonseed oil, palm kernel oil, chocolate, and many prepared foods.

   2. Trans Fat:

   Trans fat is the common name for unsaturated fat with trans-isomer fatty acid(s). Because the term refers to the configuration of a double carbon-carbon bond, trans fats are sometimes monounsaturated or polyunsaturated, but never saturated. Trans fats are rare in living nature, but can occur in food production processes. The consumption of trans fats increases the risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of LDL cholesterol and lowering levels of "good" HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol. Health authorities worldwide recommend that consumption of trans fat be reduced to trace amounts. Trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils are more harmful than naturally occurring oils. Two Canadian studies, that received funding by the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency and the Dairy Farmers of Canada, have shown that the natural trans fat vaccenic acid, found in beef and dairy products, can have the opposite health effect and can actually be beneficial compared to hydrogenated vegetable shortening, or a mixture of pork lard and soy fat, e.g., lowering total and LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Unsaturated fat is a fat molecule containing one or more double bonds among the carbon atoms. Since the carbons are double-bonded to each other, there are less bonds connected to hydrogen, so there are less hydrogen atoms, hence the name, 'unsaturated'. Cis and trans are terms that refer to the arrangement of the two hydrogen atoms bonded to the carbon atoms involved in a double bond. In the cis arrangement, the hydrogens are on the same side of the double bond. In the trans arrangement, the hydrogens are on opposite sides of the double bond. The process of hydrogenation adds hydrogen atoms to unsaturated fats, eliminating double bonds and making them into partially or completely saturated fats. However, partial hydrogenation, if it is chemical rather than enzymatic, converts a part of cis-isomers into trans-unsaturated fats instead of hydrogenating them completely. Trans fats also occur naturally in a limited number of cases: Vaccenyl and conjugated linoleyl (CLA) containing trans fats occur naturally in trace amounts in meat and dairy products from ruminants, although the latter also constitutes a cis fat.

   3. Cholesterol Foods:

   In the passed, doctors usually advise patients with heart disease to avoid all foods high in cholesterol. However, cholesterol in food is actually not as dangerous as saturated fats and trans fats. If you want to reduce your risk, you should reduce foods high in cholesterol.

B. Eating many cholesterol-lowering

Not all oils are bad. If the oil contains saturated fats and trans fats raise bad cholesterol, other oils such as olive oil, coconut oil and fish oil can lower it. Other foods such as green tea, avocado, pomegranate, etc. can also have the same effect.

In addition, you can also take natural supplements. Garlic extract is a popular supplement that has been investigated as lowering cholesterol. And eating garlic as part of your diet, you can take garlic supplements to accelerate the reduction of cholesterol.

C. More sports

Sports, but few people use it as a tactics for lowering cholesterol. In fact, its effect is much stronger than any drug. Physical exercise for 30 minutes a day has been shown to lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol. By doing regular physical exercise at least 5 hours per week, you can dramatically reduce levels of bad cholesterol.