According to the American Heart Association, "A sedentary lifestyle is one of the 5 major risk factors (along with high blood pressure, abnormal values for blood lipids, smoking, and obesity) for cardiovascular disease."Not only does regular exercise help with both weight loss and blood pressure, but there is a direct effect on cholesterol as well: exercise actually reduces LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and can raise HDL (good) cholesterol.
Exercise helps lower cholesterol in three ways. The first and most obvious is weight loss: being overweight goes hand-in-hand with high LDL (bad) cholesterol and is thus a major cardiovascular risk factor. Exercise helps your body get rid of LDL cholesterol because exercise stimulates enzymes that help move LDL cholesterol out of the blood and into the liver, where it can get excreted. Finally, exercise also increases the size of the protein particles that carry cholesterol and the bigger the particles the less able they are to stick - and clog - arteries.
ABSOLUTELY! It is considered one of the best and healthiest ways to lower your "bad" cholesterol and one of the few ways to raise your "good" cholestrol.
There are many sites you could use to learn about cholesterol levels. I like using the American Heart Association for reference. They explain the good and bad cholesterol levels the best. Your diet and your exercise contributes to your overall blood cholesterol levels.
Tips to maintain healthy cholesterol levelsMaintaining a healthy ratio between good and bad cholesterol levels is essential to the prevention of cardiovascular disease. While some individuals may be genetically predisposed to high bad cholesterol levels, there are several lifestyle changes which help to decrease those levels, while increasing the good cholesterol levels.Proper Food PreparationThe key to healthy food preparation is to decrease the amount of oils and sauces in which the food is cooked. Ideally, food should be boiled, broiled, or grilled to help reduce the intake of bad cholesterol.Regular Exercise RoutineRoutine exercise has twofold benefits. Regular movement not only decreases bad cholesterol levels, but it also helps to increase the body's production of good cholesterol which combats the bad.Quit SmokingStudies have shown that smoking has a detrimental effect on good cholesterol levels. It decreases the body's ability to produce and utilize it. Individuals who smoke should seriously consider quitting in order to regulate their body's cholesterol levels.Lose WeightPerson's who are overweight are more likely to have higher bad cholesterol levels and to have a predisposition to heart disease. A physician should be consulted by anyone who is overweight in order to find the best method of weight loss for him or her.An unhealthy balance of cholesterol levels could lead to heart disease. It is imperative to keep both good and bad levels under control by following a physician's orders and making changes towards a healthy lifestyle.
Depending on an individual, the common one would be to change or modify your lifestyle by :making dietary changes in order to reduce cholesterol levels and healthy body weighttaking up a moderate exercise like brisk walking for 20 mins daily so as to raise the HDLs, the good cholesterol and reduce LDLs and triglycerides which are bad for you.combining drugs together with the above, that is if your cholesterol is out of control already.
Statins have negative side effects. Most people have high cholesterol because of poor diet; it is healthier to change your bad habits and exercise than to take risky artificial chemicals into the body.
Cholesterol supplements will raise the good levels and help lower the bad levels. Plant Sterols actually absorb the bad cholesterol from your system.
Advice about good and bad cholesterol levels first appeared in the 1900's. Researchers discovered that there were two kinds of cholesterol levels and that is what we have today.
It does because it decreases the amount of bad cholesterol in your body
HDL cholesterol is considered good cholesterol and it actively removes bad cholesterol. HDL cholesterol levels greater than 60 milligrams is considered good but lower than 40 milligrams is considered bad.
Walnuts demonstrate heart-healthy benefits due to the presence of high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and phytosterols. Omega-3-fatty acids reduce triglycerides levels and only slightly reduce LDL levels (low density lipoproteins; also knowى as the bad cholesterol). Phytosterols appear to slightly lower LDL cholesterol levels, however, the mechanism by which it does this is not entirely known.
LDH (lactate dehydrogenase) is an enzyme found in many body tissues, while LDL (low-density lipoprotein) is a type of cholesterol that carries cholesterol in the blood. LDH levels can be elevated in conditions like tissue damage or certain diseases, while LDL cholesterol levels are important to monitor for assessing cardiovascular disease risk.
Unsaturated fats, like those found in olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds, can help lower blood cholesterol levels when they replace saturated and trans fats in the diet. This is because unsaturated fats can reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol levels while preserving or even increasing HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
Benecol works by containing plant stanols that help lower cholesterol levels. These plant stanols reduce the absorption of cholesterol in the gut, leading to decreased levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol in the bloodstream. Consuming Benecol regularly as part of a healthy diet can contribute to improved heart health.