Simple Steps to Lower Your Cholesterol Level
You can lower cholesterol without drugs by following some basic steps that will not only change your cholesterol readings, but also improve your health today and in the future. So often we use a prescription drug and hope it will magically cure whatever ails us. The truth is prescription drugs for lowering cholesterol do work. The problem is both the short term and long-term side effects.
Even more dangerous than the side effects of prescription drugs to lower cholesterol is not getting cholesterol under control. Over time, high cholesterol can lead to numerous conditions of the heart and arteries, not the least of which are atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), stroke or heart attack.
Here are 5 steps you can take today to lower your cholesterol without prescription drugs.
Eat right. May sound simple, but diet has such a significant impact on lowering cholesterol that it should be the number one factor you look at in determining if your high cholesterol is hereditary or a matter of dietary choices. A low fat and low cholesterol diet is the first step toward lowering cholesterol.
Exercise. Improving cardiovascular health is a step toward reversing the effects of high cholesterol. Exercise itself doesn’t directly lower cholesterol, but will strengthen the heart and entire circulatory system.
Quit smoking. If you smoke, the plaque build up in the arteries due to high cholesterol is accelerated. When plaque blocks the flow of blood to the heart, the muscle has to work harder to get oxygen. This can lead to a heart attack. If the arteries get completely blocked with plaque from high cholesterol then a stroke can occur.
Relax. Chronic stress can affect cholesterol levels. If you are constantly stressed and eating a low cholesterol diet, you may not see any improvement in cholesterol readings until you learn to relieve stress.
Talk to your doctor. Not all doctors are quick to prescribe medications. In fact, the more enlightened doctors will help you form a diet and exercise plan that is suitable for your current overall health and abilities as a first step toward lowering cholesterol. It is always important to ask your doctor if your decision to follow a specific diet or exercise plan is right for you. In addition, do not stop taking medications before consulting with your doctor. You can lower your cholesterol with diet and exercise, and under the care of your doctor, see about removing drugs from the process.
It does not take long to see significant improvements in your cholesterol. Lower cholesterol can be yours in just a matter of weeks.
Cholesterol plays an important role in causing atherosclerosis, a specific type of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). In the West, heart disease is the number one killer responsible for nearly half of all deaths, mostly in men and in the elderly.
Cholesterol is deposited in large amounts in the victim’s arterial wall. When the inner wall of an artery is damaged, platelets (important to blood clotting) adhere to the site of damage. Plasma cholesterol is deposited on these lesions, along with calcium ions, forming hard, calcified cholesterol plaques (atherosclerosis). These plaques lead to hardening of the arterial walls and loss of elasticity and responsiveness to changes in blood pressure. Plaques in the kidney may lead to chronic high blood pressure (hypertension). The plaques can cause a narrowing inside the arteries, reducing blood flow to a region where cells may experience ischaemia (oxygen starvation) due to insufficient circulation. If one of the coronary arteries becomes obstructed by accumulated deposits, or by a blood clot that has either formed or snagged on the deposit, the heart muscle will be starved for oxygen and an individual will suffer a heart attack, also referred to as a myocardial infarction (MI) or coronary occlusion (a coronary). These clots can block blood flow to a region (thrombosis). Most heart attacks and strokes are due either to atherosclerosis directly or to thrombosis caused by it. Plaques in the heart and the brain are the principle causes of heart attacks and strokes.