Worried about cholesterol? Here are 3 key ways to lower it

One American dies every 33 seconds from heart disease, and a key contributor to heart attacks and strokes is plaque buildup that can slow or stop the flow of blood in your arteries.

Having high “bad” cholesterol, known as LDL, is tied closely to plaque buildup. That’s why getting that number down is so important to your health.

“To lower your cholesterol, I recommend following the three pillars: diet, lifestyle and medications,” says Dr. Jeffrey Ziffra, a cardiologist at Advocate Health Care. “Diet and lifestyle are critical to lowering cholesterol even if medications are not needed. Studies show low LDL levels are safe and help reduce your risk for heart attack and stroke.”

Diet

A diet that promotes a drop in cholesterol is either mostly plant-based or the Mediterranean diet, emphasizing vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, and healthy protein such as low-fat poultry, seafood and nuts. Also, it helps to limit eating sweets, sugary drinks and red meat.

“A Mediterranean diet is primarily known to reduce your risk of stroke,” Dr. Ziffra explains. “Additionally, studies have shown that plant-based diets reduce plaque buildup and cancer.”

Lifestyle

You should adjust how many calories you eat to avoid weight gain, or to lose weight if you are overweight or obese. More than 40% of Americans are obese, which has been shown to cause several health problems.

“Lifestyle focuses primarily on weight control and regular exercise, aiming for a healthy body mass index of 18 to 24.9,” Dr. Ziffra says. “I often tell my patients 30 minutes of aerobic exercise 5 days a week or 75 minutes a week of vigorous activity. Weight or resistance training is also critical and can help with weight control. There is no minimum amount of aerobic exercise that is not beneficial.”

Dr. Ziffra also recommends using a step counter to track exercise since there are many ways to be active outside of the gym. A study found that people with higher step counts have a lower risk of developing dementia and depression.

Medication

Medication can be used to supplement changes to diet and lifestyle when trying to lower cholesterol. For this, the best bet is to talk to your health care provider who can use screenings to figure out what will work best for you.

Want to learn more about your risk for heart disease? Take a free online quiz.