How to Lower LDL Levels With Diet & Exercise

Although adhering to a regular diet and exercise plan can be difficult for some, the benefits well outweigh the risk. According to the American Heart Association, regular diet and exercise can help to strengthen the heart, resulting in a lowering of LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) and a corresponding increase in HDL (the "good" cholesterol). Even if you have been neglecting your diet and exercise routine for years, it is never too late to get back on the proverbial wagon.

Instructions

Lowering Cholesterol Levels

• 1

  Reduce overall consumption of fatty foods and cholesterol in your diet to affect your heart health positively. This advice comes courtesy of the American Heart Association, and to put it into practice you should seek to replace red meat in your diet with lower-fat "white meat" choices such as seafood, chicken and turkey. In addition to watching your consumption of saturated fats, you should also strive to wholly eliminate consumption of trans fats. Read labeling information and nutritional guides for restaurants to dodge these potentially heart-health bullets.

• 2

  Increase consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in your diet. Ideally, you should be consuming two out of the three with every meal that you eat, aiming to only eat fresh fruits and veggies and avoiding canned variants, as they often contain added sodium which can lead to other health problems such as hypertension. Whenever possible, avoid refined white-flour items, and instead consume whole-grain varieties of the same item, such as whole-grain pastas, breads and cereals.

• 3

  Engage at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise five days per week. Moderate-intensity exercise consists of anything that helps to get your heart rate up and your blood pumping, including brisk walking, yard work and aerobics. As an alternative, you could also partake in 20 to 30 minutes of high-intensity activity three times a week, such as jogging, sprinting, fast cycling, weight training and other relatively high-impact activities.