It’s National Cholesterol Education Month, and clearly, many of us need a refresher: About half of Americans have high or borderline blood cholesterol levels, a major risk factor for heart disease and a serious threat to overall health.
I’m a strong believer in trying dietary solutions before—or, if needed, in conjunction with—pharmaceutical approaches. Compared with a daily pill, lifestyle changes can be cheaper and just as effective, without the fear of unwanted side effects. This is especially relevant now, as scientists speculate on the safety and effectiveness of Vytorin, a popular cholesterol-lowering drug.
Some of my clients come to me thinking that diet and lifestyle changes are just too difficult or not worth the hassle. But I learned firsthand the impact of sudden death from a heart attack when my father passed away at the age of 62—and you’ve likely had a personal experience with the disease, considering the following:
• One American dies every 37 seconds from heart disease
• In the United States, someone has a heart attack every 26 seconds
• The annual U.S. health-care costs to treat heart disease are more than $450 billion
That’s why I’m passionate about daily, drug-free adjustments you can make to help lower your cholesterol. I’ve written about these changes as part of Health.com’s in-depth cholesterol center. Check out my tips here, and let me know your own heart-healthy strategies.
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Comments (7)
Nice post Julie
What are your thoughts on trans fats and omega 3s?
I think that there is also a difference between types of saturated fats. It may be beyond the scope of this post, but do you see any differences between trans fats, beef fat, coconut fat…?
I’m a huge advocate of the Mediterranean diet. It tends to move cholesterol levels in the right direction for prevention of cardiovascular disease. Even if it didn’t, the Mediterranean diet is clearly associated with a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, which include heart attacks, high blood pressure, and strokes.
-Steve Parker, M.D., author of “The Advanced Mediterranean Diet”
The Mediterranean diet tends to move cholesterol levels in a healthy direction. Even separate from that, the Mediterranean diet is clearly associated with prolonged life and reduced cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks, stroke, and high blood pressure.
-Steve
Healthy Lifestyle blog:
http://AdvancedMediterraneanDiet.com/blog/
Trans are obviously really bad, but they have all but been removed from the food supply.
Sat fats appear to be second bad, but you are right,not all saturated fats are raising blood cholesterol levels. A few are neutral in terms of raising blood cholesterol and tend to be why certain sat fats may not be that bad.
Omega 3s are excellent but not all omegas are the same either. EPA and DHA are the algae (marine) omegas that have the most potential for reducing sudden death from heart diseaes, whereas ALA (alpha-linolenic acid) probably does not have those same benefits.
it is often NOT reported that many people have high cholesterol because our bodies make too much and diet won’t help that. i was on a cholesterol lowering diet for years and then went on a really strick diet and my cholesterol level never changed. i still eat a plant based diet and don’t think about my cholestrol much. i’m 67 and male so i have 3 risk factors and healthy, buy i don’t want to take the statin drugs. yet.
the high cholesterol levels run in my family.
Free Fat Loss Report
i m going fater day by day.i jus want to become thin.is this because of doing sex
Hi,
I have managed to lower my total and ldl cholesterol by almost 25% by just excercise and dieting, with no drugs! Thanks for the tips.
http://www.lowerldlhq.com