Lifestyle Habits To Keep Bad LDL Cholesterol in Check

It is possible for a thin person to have a stroke or a heart attack if they have high levels of LDL cholesterol. Living a happy and active lifestyle must include habits that support the consumption of good HDL cholesterol and lowers the damage to your body caused by bad LDL cholesterol. It is the LDL cholesterol that sticks to your arteries and it is the HDL cholesterol that helps clean it up from the artery wall.

Here are some ways that you can raise your cholesterol levels  -

Butt out that cigarette. Tobacco use is a major risk to your health and studies show that it smoking lowers HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It may not seem necessary to warn people concerned with leading an active and happy lifestyle but many people still smoke cigarettes in order to help them lose weight.  It is best to take a healthier approach.

Eat grapefruit for breakfast. Both the white and the red varieties of grapefruit help lower our total cholesterol levels by 8% if you find the discipline to eat a whole one every day.

Eat more oat bran. There was a study done at University of Connecticut study that found that men with high cholesterol who ate oat bran cookies daily for 8 weeks lowered their levels of LDL cholesterol by more than 20 percent. If you are trying to stay on a raw diet, remember that you can eat steel-cut oat flakes that have been soaked in coconut or almond milk overnight in the refrigerator.

Drink green tea. Studies conducted at Vanderbilt University found that drinking the equivalent of seven cups of green tea a day can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. Even drinking just two cups a day could have a beneficial effect.

Drink red wine. Drinking one glass of red wine a day helps lower dangerous levels of LDL cholesterol. There is a constituent of red wine called resveratrol that helps prevent damage to blood vessels and improves heart function.  However, take it easy when you drink, as drinking alcohol in excess is not good for the liver.

Drink unsweetened cranberry juice. Just as effective as wine is red cranberry juice. A study at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania showed that drinking the raw juice raised good HDL cholesterol levels by ten percent.

Get enough niacin (B3). This is an essential vitamin that the body needs to process fat in the body. Meat, fish and liver are the best sources of the vitamin, but vegan sources can be found in peanuts, mushrooms, green peas, sunflower seeds and avocado.

Eat more grains and beans. Researchers from St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto found that eating beans every day could lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by almost 30%.

Eat more nuts, Researchers found that that ate 1 ounce of nuts daily decreased their risk of heart disease by 30 percent.

These are very simple and minor adjustments that you can make to your lifestyle in order to prevent heart attacks and strokes provoked by high cholesterol levels.

For more information about the Healthy & Active Program please visit our website at www.healthy-active.com. You may also call us in Toronto at (41)440-2217 and ask for Adrienne Wright Bulow or Dr. Micheal Rahman or email us at adrienne@healthy-active.com.