How To Increase Good CholesterolMost people take it as given that high cholesterol is bad for you. Adverts on TV and other media extol the virtues of eating plant sterol margarine because it lowers your cholesterol or eat 5 fruits or vegetables a day to prevent heart disease.
In most cases this is good advice and it makes sense to heed this advice, however many people do not know that much about cholesterol. Specifically, that there are types of cholesterol and that it is essential to keep the body healthy.
This article will go into more depth on what cholesterol is, why you need to increase the good and decrease bad cholesterol. Finally, it will tell you how to increase good cholesterol.
Cholesterol is a waxy deposit that is produced by the liver. It exists in most animals that have a liver and thus is found in many animal products that humans consume, such as dairy and meat. Upon eating such products, it is absorbed from the intestine into the bloodstream.
The bloodstream is essentially the highway that transports all the nutrients and energy that we get from food to various parts of the body. The method of transport is the blood itself.
Cholesterol is also absorbed into the bloodstream but it is not soluble in blood and needs another method of transport. This job is done by lipoproteins. There are various types of lipoproteins but in terms of good and bad cholesterol, the important one's are low density and high density lipoproteins (known as LDL and HDL). LDL transport cholesterol around the body. HDL is responsible for transporting cholesterol to the liver where it is excreted. Thus LDL is often referred to as bad cholesterol because it can lead to thickening arteries or atherosclerosis. HDL is known as good cholesterol because it reduces the level of LDL cholesterol.
So to improve your overall health and reduce the risk of heart disease you want to lower your bad cholestrol and increase your good cholestrol. For the purposes of this article we will confine the discussion to raising the good stuff.
You've probably already heard this but there is a link between obesity and low good cholesterol. Obesity is not the cause of this but rather an outward symptom of the real problem. And that problem is a poor diet. Reduce the amount of fat you eat – this includes saturated and trans fats. These types of fats are common in processed foods so a simple guideline to follow is to eat fresh food.
Try to square the difference between the amount of energy or calories that you put into your body with the amount that you actually use. This can mean watching the types and amounts of carbohydrates that you eat. Check with your doctor or a dietitian about the ideal amount of daily calories you should be taking in based on your age, sex, size and type of daily activities performed. Then work towards a balanced diet that puts that amount of calories into your body.
If you consume too many calories the best thing to do with them is to use them. Exercise is the best way to burn excess calories. Not only is it good for burning calories but it is good for the general health of the body. It gets the blood flowing and the heart pumping. It can reduce stress which can also contribute to reducing good cholesterol. Develop a regular exercise program. Start slow and build it up. Check with your doctor before starting a regular program.
Smoking is another activity that lowers the level of good cholesterol in the body. Quiting smoking will raise good cholesterol.
Raising good cholesterol will improve reduce your chance of getting heart disease and atherosclerosis. The aim is to get 60mg or more in a deciliter of blood.
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