If you have just been diagnosed with high cholesterol, if is essential that you be informed about the disease in every way possible, so that you could take informed decisions on how to manage it.

Our bodies naturally produce cholesterol by making particular hormones, bile acids and cell walls and not forgetting the all important vitamin D. Cholesterol is also known as a natural fat molecule and is the function of the liver to produce cholesterol. This function is strongly influenced by what we eat.

Cholesterol consists of two types namely; LDL and HDL. Lets look at LDL first. Once the liver produces cholesterol, it is taken by the low-density lipoprotein to our body tissues. If there is an imbalance, the arteries become saturated and a build up of unwanted fatty tissues is the result, which in turn narrows the arteries and inhibits blood flow.

Another type namely; HDL has the job to take the cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver where it is then processed and cast-off. Our bodies should have a high level of HDL (high-density lipoprotien), which in turn gives us healthy arteries and a healthy heart. The heart and cholesterol foundations of the world, now concur that an acceptable level of cholesterol in ones bloodstream would be 5. 5mmol/L or a bit lower. In layman’s terms this means we must maintain our bad LDL low and our good HDL high.

Eating things like; milk, cheese, butter, fast foods, sugars, fatty meats, snack food would all contribute to high cholesterol and is known as saturated fat. In moderation of course these foods would be processed under normal conditions. Try to exchange these types of foods for unsaturated fats like nuts, margarine, seeds and oily fish, just to name a few.

How can one start to reduce your high cholesterol level? Physical exercise is a know method. Start off with mild exercise by maybe walking up steps or a brisk walk each day. Increase your exercise gradually until you feel comfortable with your results. Consuming an excessive amount of alcohol is undesirable as well as smoking if you want to better your cholesterol level.

Unfortunately some things would count against you which you will not be able to do anything about, like; gender (men have higher cholesterol levels than women – menopause would level the risk, one’s age is a big factor because cholesterol tends to become a problem with increased age, some ethnic groups have a higher risk than others and lastly your family history. It is most likely that you would have inherited your cholesterol problems from a mother or father.

Would you like to learn more about cholesterol diet tips? Read other article at low cholesterol diet

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