Lowering Bad Cholesterol

Reducing your LDL (bad) cholesterol and total blood cholesterol levels can greatly lessen the chances of getting heart disease. Most people can lower their blood cholesterol by changing their diet, losing excess weight, and exercising more. These changes can also help reduce your risk for diabetes and lower your blood pressure.

• Change your diet. Choose a diet that is low in saturated fat and cholesterol to help reduce LDL levels. Most saturated fat and all cholesterol in our diets come from animal sources (meats including poultry and fish, dairy products that are not nonfat products, butter, eggs). Trans fat is another type of fat created by hydrogenation of unsaturated fats, and your intake of trans fats should also be limited. Trans fats are found in many fried and baked fast foods and snack products and in some margarines.

• Lose weight. Losing weight if you are overweight can help lower LDL. Weight loss is especially important for those with a group of risk factors called metabolic syndrome. The risk factors of metabolic syndrome include abdominal obesity, defined as having a large waist measurement (more than 40 inches for men and more than 35 inches for women), and high triglyceride or low HDL levels.

• Be physically active. Regular physical activity (30 minutes on most or all days of the week) is recommended for everyone. It can help raise HDL and lower LDL levels. This is especially important for those with metabolic syndrome.