Three Ways to Lower Bad Cholesterol

Lowering bad cholesterol is as easy as one, two, three--diet, exercise and natural supplements. Bad cholesterol, also called LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol, is the number you want to see decrease in order to avoid complications, including stroke and heart attack. These may arise from restricted blood flow due to plaque deposits formed from cholesterol accumulation.

A combination of steps can have a far more profound effect on reducing your LDL than a single step alone. These three in particular work very well together and they are changes you can make today, right now, for better overall health.

Diet

• Pack a variety of fruit, vegetables and whole grains into your diet. Use these items to replace prepackaged foods and foods high in trans fats (often these are the same foods). You will cut calories and shed weight along with poor food choices.

  Monounsaturated fats and oils are healthier, and polyunsaturated fatty acids are recommended. Try canola or olive oils to get the benefits of both. Olive oil also contains polyphenols, which help lower LDL cholesterol readings.

Exercise

• Exercise does not just increase your good cholesterol (HDL or high density lipoprotein), it lowers the bad, giving you a powerful double-effect. Exercise also lowers other risk factors that can lead to high cholesterol. It decreases the chance that you will develop diabetes, fights high blood pressure and helps you lose weight.

  Developing a healthy lifestyle is often a side effect of regular exercise. This may lead to an improvement in your diet and food choices or convince you to quit smoking, eliminating two additional risk factors for high cholesterol.

  Try to exercise daily, beginning with 30 minutes and working your way up to an hour a day most days of the week. The secret is to get moving, not to worry about achieving the maximum time. Each little bit you can add will help you toward your goal.

Natural Supplements

• A number of natural supplements may help to lower cholesterol and prevent you from having to resort to a prescription medication. These include garlic, oat bran and psyllium.

  Oat bran and psyllium provide soluble fiber. This fiber raises good cholesterol levels, lowers bad cholesterol, reduces blood pressure and has several other important effects on healthy blood flow and heart health.

  Inform your doctor if you are currently taking a prescription medicine for cholesterol and choose to add one of these supplements to your diet, as it may affect the dosage level of your medication.