How to Prevent High Cholesterol

Adopting a few precautionary changes in your diet and lifestyle can go a long way in preventing high cholesterol and many related heart disorders.

The first strategy in fending off high cholesterol levels is to know the different types of fats and how each influences heart health. While certain kinds of fats like unsaturated fats can help in maintaining healthy cholesterol levels, bad fats such as saturated and Trans fats lead directly to high cholesterol.

How to prevent high cholesterol:

• Oust saturated fats from your diet. Milk, cheese, red meat, refined flour, and processed foods contain harmful saturated fats. Anything made with shortening or hydrogenated vegetable oil should be avoided.
• Use oils rich in MUFA such as olive oil, flaxseed oil, canola oil, etc.
• Increase your daily intake of fruits and vegetables to at least 4-5 servings.
• Eat foods rich in soluble fibre like oat bran which helps reduce total cholesterol.
• Substitute red meat with cold water fish such as sardines, mackerel, etc.
• Adopt a regular, personally tailored exercise regime.