Cholesterol: How To Lower Yours
Cholesterol is a health issue that everyone should be aware of. And high cholesterol can affect anyone at any age. Here are the key points to maintaining your cholesterol at a healthy level, and lowering your cholesterol if your cholesterol level is high.
You can actually reduce your risk for a heart attack or stroke by knowing your cholesterol level and having an understanding of cholesterol. So where to begin?
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is found in the lipids in the bloodstream. Though cholesterol is vital in the forming of cell membranes, a high cholesterol level can lead to coronary heart disease and heart attack. A human being gets cholesterol in 2 ways. The body itself produces it, usually about 1,000 milligrams per day. And foods from animals, especially egg yolks, meat, poultry, and both whole and reduced-fat milk contain cholesterol.
Saturated, fatty acids are the main instrument in raising cholesterol levels, and as we have said – a high cholesterol level increases your risk for heart disease. Trans fats also raise blood cholesterol. The American Heart Association recommends that we limit our intake of cholesterol to less than 300 milligrams per day. For a person that already has heart disease, recommended daily intake of cholesterol is less than 200 milligrams. Those with severe high cholesterol may need to limit their daily intake of cholesterol even further.
A point to note: foods that are high in saturated fats generally contain high amounts of cholesterol. These are to be avoided. So what else can a person do to keep their cholesterol level under control?
Firstly, a person must know what their cholesterol is to have a clear idea of where they stand. In addition to that, a person should strive to always eat foods that are low in cholesterol and saturated fat and free of trans fat. In general, maintaining a healthy weight is also vital towards having a healthy cholesterol level. A person should strive to be physically active as possible.
Knowing one’s cholesterol level is key to living the healthy life. Taking these steps will ensure that a person is doing all that is possible to avoid high cholesterol levels and the heart disease which it directly causes.
