REDUCING HIGH CHOLESTEROL CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

Knowing the steps involved in lowering high cholesterol can literally be a lifesaver. Research has demonstrated that if left unchecked, this condition can dramatically increase your risk of heart disease and strokes. Thus reducing high cholesterol is one of the most important things you can do to improve your overall health.

Fortunately, reducing high cholesterol is possible if you follow a number of simple steps. The most common cause is too much saturated fat in the diet, while other risk factors include:

• Lack of physical exercise
• Being overweight or obese
• Diabetes
• Excessive alcohol use
• Smoking

When a doctor tells you that you have an elevated cholesterol score, they are usually referring to an excess of LDL in the blood.  There are actually two types of cholesterol, one "good" (that is, beneficial to your health), the other "bad". The two types are:

LDL (Low Density Lipoproteins): Also known as "bad" cholesterol, LDL transports cholesterol from the liver, where it is made, to all the cells in the body. HDL (High Density Lipoproteins): Also known as "good" cholesterol, HDL transports excess cholesterol back to the liver.

Cholesterol is an important substance, needed for essential body processes such as making hormones and vitamin D. When your health is good, the body produces a proper amount of cholesterol - if any excess is produced, the HDL simply takes it back to the liver to be disposed of.

If, however, the body makes too much, it can overwhelm the ability of the HDL to remove it. When that happens, the excess cholesterol builds up inside the arteries, leading to a condition known as arteriosclerosis. This is where the cholesterol deposited on the walls of the coronary arteries causes them to narrow and harden. If you have elevated levels of LDL, the most important change you can make is to your diet. The biggest culprit is the amount of saturated fat you eat. Unfortunately, when you eat saturated fat, it triggers the liver to make cholesterol, which is then released into the blood.

Reducing the amount of saturated fat you eat will therefore reduce the cholesterol released into your blood. Foods that contain high levels of saturated fat include fast foods of all types, cookies, cakes, pastries and ice cream, fatty meat, hard cheeses and butter, and full fat milk.

There are also other lifestyle areas that you can address that will make a significant impact on your cholesterol levels.

• Exercise is essential for someone with high levels of LDL. Exercise has been found to not only reduce LDL levels, but also increase HDL levels.
• Losing Weight: Excess weight is a major factor in increasing cholesterol levels. A sensible program of weight loss can not only lower your cholesterol levels, it will also reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
• Alcohol: Excessive alcohol consumption has been shown to raise cholesterol levels, in particular the bad, LDL cholesterol. By reducing your alcohol consumption can help to lower your cholesterol levels.
• Quit Smoking:  If you are a smoker, it's worth knowing that smoking actually reduces the levels of good, HDL cholesterol. It thus contributes to the build up of excessive cholesterol in the arteries.