How To Reduce Cholesterol By Making Small Life Changes Articles | Remedy

By: Richard Bleuze

How To Reduce Cholesterol By Making Small Life Changes

What can you do to reduce cholesterol levels by making small life changes?  Well, below is a quick list to get you started.

* Reduce fat in your diet

Buy the leanest cuts of meat you can find.  Try to substitute poultry,  without the skin, and fish for red meat.  Both poultry and fish are lower in saturated fat.  In addition, try switching to low fat cottage cheese and yogurt, reduced fat hard cheeses, use "Smart Balance" to cook, and skim or 1 percent milk to reduce cholesterol.

* Eat no more than four egg yolks a week

* Eliminate fried foods

Do not fry foods.  Instead, roast, bake, broil, grill or poach them instead to reduce cholesterol In addition, you should use fat free marinades or basting with liquids like wine, tomato or lemon juice.  Try using olive or canola oils for sautéing or baking.  Once again, I'm going to suggest "Smart Balance". 

* Eat vegetables and complex carbohydrates

Eat vegetables, fruits, grains (rice, barley and pasta), beans and legumes since they are the lowest fat foods to reduce cholesterol.  In addition. use tomato base sauces instead of cream base.  Try using lemon juice, low sodium soy sauce or herbs to season vegetables.

* Lose weight

If you are overweight, then you most likely have a problem with high cholesterol.  Start a weight loss plan to reduce your weight and reduce cholesterol.

* Eat nuts

Try sprinkling a few on your cereal, bake them into muffins or pancakes or add them to casseroles or stir-fries.  Especially, walnuts and almonds to reduce cholesterol.

* Eat dark chocolate

Studies have shown that the fat in chocolate, especially in dark chocolate, has no effect on cholesterol levels.  However, please remember, that chocolate is still high in fat and calories so do not go overboard.

* Drink fruit juices

Grape juice has the effect of lowering LDL to reduce cholesterol levels.  The darker the grape juice, the better.  Although I do not like grapefruit juice, it does the same thing as grape juice.

* Eat garlic

Reduce cholesterol by eating all the garlic you can.  Add a clove in the foods that you cook.  The lowering effects of garlic have been demonstrated repeatedly in people with normal and high cholesterol.  Garlic also seems to raise the HDL levels as well.  If you concerned about the odor of garlic, take the tablets instead to reduce cholesterol.

* Take niacin with doctor approval

It has been proven effective for lowering LDL and raising HDL.  Niacin is also one of the cheapest drugs available for reducing cholesterol.  However, it  can cause extremely high blood sugar or liver damage.

* Take vitamin E

Vitamin E may has a positive impact on reducing cholesterol when taken in fairly large quantities - up to 800 IU per day.  This is more than you can get from your diet alone.  Thus, you will need to take a tablet in addition to making a change in your diet to reduce cholesterol.

* Take Calcium

Studies indicates that a calcium carbonate supplement can reduce cholesterol by up to 4 percent while also increasing HDL.

* Take Vitamin C

Vitamin C is the number one immune system booster and also drives up HDL.

* Fill up on fiber

Try eating oat bran or oatmeal for breakfast.  They can be effective in giving you fiber.  Other sources of fiber include such as barley, beans, peas and many other vegetables.  In addition, pectin, which is found in fruits like apples and prunes, can also reduce cholesterol.

* Quit smoking

* Reduce sugar intake

Many people do not realize that sugar affects cholesterol and definitely affects triglycerides.  Sugar stimulates insulin production, which in turn increases triglycerides.

* Exercise regularly

Exercise can lower LDL cholesterol and boost HDL cholesterol.  Thus, take a walk around the block or go jogging.  

* Eliminate caffeine

People who drink large amounts of caffeine coffee (more than 6 cups a day) are far more prone to high cholesterol.  Thus, reduce cholesterol by limiting your coffee intake to no more than three cups a day.  In addition, eliminate caffeinated sodas entirely.

Thus, as you can see, there are lots of life changes that you can make to reduce cholesterol.

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