Causes of high cholesterol vary depends
on the lifestyle, gender or the heritage of the individual.
Weight
Americans weigh more now than all of the past
ten years combined. With busy careers and children's heavy extra-curricular
activities, our tendency is to grab something quick while rushing
out the door. While this is convenient and makes life easier for
the moment, the long-term effects of a poor diet can be devastating.
Carrying around excess weight generally increases
the level of "bad" cholesterol. One solution is to work directly
with your physician or a dietician to first determine what the
ideal weight is for your frame and age, and then choose a sensible
plan to direct you to the kinds of food that help reduce your
cholesterol.
Diet
As stated at the beginning of this site, avoiding
foods made from saturated fats - coming from animals - is an essential
line of defense in fighting high cholesterol. When buying cooking
oils, look for unsaturated or vegetable fats. You should also
use low fat cooking sprays in place of heavy oils whenever possible.
Regular exercise is
an excellent way to lower cholesterol and keeps your body in the
best functioning capacity. To have positive benefit, exercise
does not mean you have to run 10 miles a day and live in a gym
six days a week. What it does mean, is that 20 minutes of aerobic
type exercise, which includes walking, done on a daily basis,
gives you the needed boost for lowering cholesterol.
Age and Gender
Cholesterol levels begin
increasing for both men and women as age goes up. Women generally
have a lower level than men do between the age of 50 and 55. However,
once a woman starts into menopause, the natural occurrence is
that the cholesterol level starts to increase.
Heritage
The truth is that family
genes play a big role in many aspects of a person's health to
include the amount of cholesterol you might have to deal with.
If you have a parent that has had to battle with high levels of
cholesterol, your chances of following in their footsteps is high.
If your physician has
determined that you have a high level of cholesterol, do some
research to determine if other members of your family have this
problem. Ask what medications or therapies they have had success
with. More than likely, that same method will help you.
When you meet with your
physician, take your family history along with any proven medications
and/or therapies for them to review.
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