High cholesterol is an affliction that affects a large proportion of Westerners due to many unhealthy aspects of our diet and health. For this reason it is highly important that we learn about controlling cholesterol levels to prevent angina, heart disease, heart attacks, strokes or even death. Whether or not you suspect you have high cholesterol and whether or not you fall into a high risk group (smokers, alcoholics, obese patients etc) it is still important to monitor and control the amount of cholesterol in your blood – and it is fairly easy to do so once you know how.

Controlling cholesterol levels is really about two things: lifestyle changes and diet changes. In terms of altering your diet there are several key points to remember. Firstly, to keep your cholesterol low you should limit your consumption of saturated fats found in substances such as lard, oil, red meats, dairy products, takeaways, ready meals, butter and eggs. This does not necessarily mean completely eliminating fats from your diet, as that can lead to an unhealthy low amount of HDL (high-density lipoprotein) which is considered the ‘good cholesterol’ and is used by the body to clear out arterial plaque as well as the ‘bad’ cholesterol LDL (low-density-cholesterol). On top of this, fat itself also serves many important roles in the body including maintaining skin and hair and helping with the absorption of protein. The secret to successfully controlling cholesterol levels then is not to cut anything completely out of your diet but rather to just limit the intake and carefully pick what you eat. Some simple ways to limit the saturated fat in your diet are to use skimmed milk rather full fat or semi skimmed, to forego butter when eating bread or toast with jam or marmite and to avoid using oil in cooking wherever possible.

Another aspect of diet to be aware of is the amount of carbohydrates, and diets where carbohydrates account for 60% of calories put you at high risk of developing high cholesterol. This means you should also limit the amount of sugar, cake, crisps and sweets, as well as carbonated drinks such as Coke and Pepsi. Again, small ways to limit your intake of carbohydrates include leaving the sugar out of tea or replacing sweets and snacks with things like raisins or yogurt.

Eating more fibre is another important way of controlling cholesterol levels however and can also clear the arterial plaque and bad cholesterol as well as aiding digestion and bowel movements. This works as fibre is not digested by the body and so can travel through the intestinal and digestive tracts, clearing blockages as it does. In cases where the fat and carbohydrates have been removed from the diet and high cholesterol prevails, this can provide a great way to help control familial, genetic cholesterol. High fibre foods include citrus fruits, green vegetables, nuts, grains and rice. Similarly effective in this domain are diuretics and laxatives, which aid the bowel movements and so improve the body’s ability to remove waste from the body.

Controlling cholesterol isn’t just about diet though. Smoking, obesity, inactivity and alcohol consumption can all exacerbate bad cholesterol and put additional strain on the heart and circulatory system. It’s important then to attempt to make healthy changes to your lifestyle in order to make the most of your healthy new diet. Doing additional exercise is also one of the most efficient ways to improve cholesterol.

Mack LeMouse

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