Health Guide©
Best Health Tips

Reducing your cholesterol

To reduce cholesterol:

· First cut down on saturated fats. To do this:

· Eat lean meat. Select lean cuts and ask your butcher to cut off the fat.

· Drink skim milk instead of whole milk.

Do the same for all dairy products. Note that vegetarians have a much lower cholesterol level (almost twice as low as average) which is perfectly understandable, since cholesterol is only found in products derived from animals.

· Alcohol - in moderation. Not more than two glasses a day. However, it does appear that drinking a moderate amount of alcohol raises the number of HDL lipids (the good ones!), which break down cholesterol. (Moderation = two 4 oz. glasses of wine or two 12 oz. beers.)

· Do regular exercise, for example walking.

· Take Vitamin E. It reduces the risk of coronary disease.

· Calcium brewer’s yeast, Vitamin C and Vitamin B-6 also combat the accumulation of cholesterol. And don’t forget lecithin, which helps fight excess cholesterol, arteriosclerosis, hypertension and angina (as well as psoriasis, anxiety and diabetes - and reduces the likelihood of contracting cancer). Losing weight is a good way to raise your HDL level.

· Use poly-unsaturated, non-hydrogenated, cold pressed oil: corn oil, sunflower seed oil, soy, flax etc. A mono-unsaturated oil like olive oil can even raise your HDL level.

· Daily consumption of fish would be ideal for preventing cardio-vascular problems, as demonstrated conclusively in a number of studies on fish-eating populations (Eskimos for example). Ideally, you would eat fish twice a day. And as strange as this sounds, you should select the fattest kinds: mackerel, sardines, herring, salmon etc. As for the oil in the fish, it is used to treat arterial disorders. Its effects can be felt in about six weeks. Fish oil contains two poly-unsaturated fatty acids which are very beneficial for the arteries.