{"id":162,"date":"2019-02-20T13:49:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T13:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/?p=162"},"modified":"2019-02-20T13:49:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-20T13:49:25","slug":"how-to-control-cholesterol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/how-to-control-cholesterol","title":{"rendered":"How to Control Cholesterol ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Controlling Cholesterol<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is cholesterol?<\/strong>
\nCholesterol is a type of fat. It has both good and bad effects on the body. Your body uses cholesterol to make hormones and to build and maintain nerve cells. However, when your body has too much cholesterol, deposits of fat in the blood called plaque form inside blood vessel walls. The blood vessel walls thicken and the vessels become narrower (a condition called atherosclerosis). This change in the blood vessels reduces blood flow through the blood vessels, possibly leading to heart attacks or strokes.
\nMost of the cholesterol in your blood is made by your liver from the fats, carbohydrates, and proteins you eat. You also get cholesterol by eating animal products such as meat, eggs, and dairy products.<\/p>\n

How is cholesterol measured?<\/strong>
\nWhen you get your cholesterol checked, your health care provider will give you a number for your total cholesterol level. You can use the chart below to see if your total cholesterol is high. <\/p>\n

Total Cholesterol Level (mg\/dL)
\n—————————————-
\nless than 200 good
\n200 to 239 borderline high
\n240 or above high
\n—————————————-
\nWhen your cholesterol is measured and found to be high, your health care provider may also check the amount of LDL (low-density lipoproteins) and HDL (high-density lipoproteins) in your blood. LDL and HDL carry cholesterol through your blood. LDLs carry a lot of cholesterol, leave behind fatty deposits on your artery walls, and contribute to heart disease. HDLs do the opposite. They clean the artery walls and remove extra cholesterol from the body, thus lowering the risk of heart disease. LDL is called “bad” cholesterol. (You can think of “L” for “lousy” cholesterol.) HDL is called “good” cholesterol (think of “H” for “healthy” cholesterol). It is good to have low levels of LDL and high levels of HDL.
\nThe recommended levels of LDL are shown in the following chart: <\/p>\n

Recommended LDL Cholesterol Level (mg\/dL)
\n—————————————————————
\nLess than 100 For most people <\/p>\n

Less than 70 If you have an increased risk of heart
\n disease <\/p>\n

Less than 70 If you have heart disease, diabetes,
\n peripheral artery disease, abdominal aortic
\n aneurysm, or symptomatic carotid artery disease
\n—————————————————————
\nFor HDL, a level below 40 mg\/dL is too low. The recommended HDL level is 45 mg\/dL or higher.
\nHow can I control my cholesterol level?
\nCholesterol levels can usually be controlled by eating right, exercising, and not smoking.
\nFollow these diet guidelines to help control your cholesterol:
\n\u2022\tReduce the amount of cholesterol in your diet. The American Heart Association recommends eating no more than 250 to 300 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol a day.
\n\u2022\tEat less fat. Fats should contribute no more than 30% of your daily calories. Only 10% of the fat you eat should be saturated fat.
\nSome kinds of fats are better than others. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are better than saturated fats. Monounsaturated fats are found in olive oil, canola oil, and avocados. Polyunsaturated fats are found in fish and some vegetable oils.
\nSaturated fat raises your blood cholesterol because it makes it hard for the body to clear the cholesterol away. Saturated fat is found in different amounts in almost all foods. Butter, some oils, meat, and poultry fat contain a lot of saturated fat.
\n\u2022\tAdjust the amount of calories you eat and exercise regularly to maintain a lean body weight.
\nTo control the amount of fat and cholesterol you eat:
\n\u2022\tCheck food labels for fat and cholesterol content.
\n\u2022\tLimit the amount of butter and margarine you eat.
\n\u2022\tUse sunflower, safflower, soybean, canola, corn, or olive oil rather than tropical oils such as palm or coconut.
\n\u2022\tUse salad dressings and margarine made with polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats.
\n\u2022\tUse egg whites or egg substitutes rather than whole eggs.
\n\u2022\tReplace whole-milk dairy products with nonfat or low-fat milk, cheese, spreads, and yogurt.
\n\u2022\tEat skinless chicken, turkey, fish, and meatless entrees more often than red meat.
\n\u2022\tChoose lean cuts of meat and trim off all visible fat. Keep portion sizes moderate.
\n\u2022\tAvoid fatty desserts such as ice cream, cream-filled cakes, and cheesecakes. Choose fresh fruits, nonfat frozen yogurt, Popsicles, etc.
\n\u2022\tReduce the amount of fried foods, vending machine food, and fast food you eat.
\n\u2022\tLimit the amount of nuts you eat, especially nuts high in saturated fat. Examples of nuts that are especially high in saturated fat are cashews, pistachios, and Brazil and macadamia nuts.
\n\u2022\tEat fruits and vegetables (especially fresh fruits and leafy vegetables), beans, and whole grains daily. The fiber in these foods helps lower cholesterol.
\n\u2022\tLook for low-fat or nonfat varieties of the foods you like to eat, or look for substitutes.
\nExercise goes hand-in-hand with a healthy diet for controlling cholesterol. Exercise helps because it:
\n\u2022\tKeeps your weight down.
\n\u2022\tDecreases your total cholesterol level.
\n\u2022\tDecreases your LDL (bad cholesterol).
\n\u2022\tIncreases your HDL (good cholesterol).
\nA good exercise program includes aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is any activity that keeps your heart rate up (such as swimming, jogging, walking, and bicycling). You should get 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at least every other day.
\nIf you haven’t been exercising, ask your health care provider for an exercise prescription and start your new exercise program slowly.
\nIf you smoke, quit. Smoking increases your risk of heart disease because it lowers HDL levels.
\nHigh cholesterol may run in families. Know your family history and discuss it with your health care provider.<\/p>\n

In summary, to control your cholesterol level: <\/strong>
\n\u2022\tEat healthy.
\n\u2022\tGet regular exercise.
\n\u2022\tDon’t smoke.
\n\u2022\tCheck your cholesterol yearly. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Controlling Cholesterol What is cholesterol? Cholesterol is a type of fat. It has both good and bad effects on the body. Your body uses cholesterol to make hormones and to build and maintain nerve cells. However, when your body has too much cholesterol, deposits of fat in the blood called plaque form inside blood vessel walls. The blood vessel walls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-about-cholesterol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163,"href":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162\/revisions\/163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nishithchandra.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}