High cholesterol: Nutritionist reveals top prevention tips
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As high cholesterol doesn’t typically lead to any obvious symptoms – unless levels are extremely high – a blood test is needed to determine if you’re at risk of numerous health conditions. Some people may be asked by their doctor not to eat up to 12 hours before taking a blood test, the NHS confirmed. Alternatively, a finger-prick test might be arranged so that cholesterol levels can be checked within a few minutes.
In the majority of cases, patients are made aware of their “total” cholesterol levels.
Total cholesterol takes into account the amount of “bad” and “good” cholesterol in your blood.
A healthy result should show a total cholesterol level of five or below.
If not, it’s time to make some lifestyle changes to help bring down your cholesterol levels.
In order to do so quickly, you can bring more laughter into your life, certified Dr Suzanne Steinbaum.
Dr Suzanne Steinbaum – a cardiologist – said laughter is like medicine, it helps to increase high-density lipoprotein (i.e good) cholesterol.
Good cholesterol helps pick up bad cholesterol in the bloodstream and transport it to the liver where it can be broken down.
This can be as simple as putting on a funny film, checking out silly videos online, or having a laugh with a loved one.
Another useful way to help lower your cholesterol levels fairy quickly is to get moving.
Dr Sarah Samaan – another doctor specialising in cardiology – said that exercise can “raise HDL [i.e. good cholesterol] and improve LDL [i.e. bad cholesterol”.
The more exercise you engage with on a daily basis, the quicker your cholesterol levels can dip, thereby improving your health.
The NHS recommends for everybody to do at least 150 minutes of weekly exercise.
Anything that gets the heart rate to increase counts, such as:
- A brisk walk
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Jogging
- Dancing
- Playing sports.
Another tip is to add spices onto your food, especially black pepper, coriander, and ginger.
Other spices recommended by WebMD to help lower your cholesterol levels include:
- Garlic
- Curcumin
- Ginger
- Cinnamon.
WebMD stated: “Research shows that eating a half to one clove of garlic each day could lower cholesterol up to nine percent.”
Cardiologist Dr Steinbaum added that extra seasoning added to your food is a great way to help reduce your appetite.
By not eating as much, and moving around more, it’s inevitable that a few pounds will be shed, which is great news for your health.
Losing weight is one of the key ways to improve your cholesterol levels, confirmed the NHS.
All these measures are ways to help lower your cholesterol without the use of statins.
However, should lifestyle modifications not work in the long term, medication might be required.
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