We all know that cholesterol is a major concern today. High cholesterol has steadily become a concern for everyone since the rise in obesity and increase in unhealthy foods. It is very important to keep one’s LDL low and HDL high. It is also important to watch your triglyceride levels. Yes, the increased amounts of unhealthy foods (fast food, deserts, and salty snacks) people consume has contributed to the high cholesterol problem. The increased in consumption of unhealthy foods has lead to more and more obese people (children and adults). High cholesterol can also be heredity. Therefore, it is essential that you are aware of your family history.
If high cholesterol runs in your family, then you need to be more conscientious at watching your dieting and getting appropriate amounts of exercise. In addition, you need to get early and frequent cholesterol screenings. We are going to discuss different treatment options for high cholesterol. This article is not only for people with high cholesterol. It is also for people without high cholesterol problems because we all know that prevention is the key. We need to monitor and apply the different treatments discussed in the later part of this article if needed. Of course, the first treatment is to watch what you eat and exercise.
Exercise and changing one’s diet can be very beneficial in lowering or preventing high cholesterol. If exercising or changing one’s diet does not help, one would have to take medication. Your doctor would probably describe you a medication from one of the family of cholesterol lowering drugs such as statins, niacin bile-acid resins, fibric acid derivatives, or cholesterol absorption inhibitors. It is still crucial to take this medication and maintain a healthy diet and exercise. Another alternative is to consider herbs and other supplements. Supplements such as Omega 3 and garlic pills may help to raise HDL and lower LDL levels, but my recommendation is to use these supplements as preventive measures and as the first step to lowering high cholesterol levels before levels get too high that diet and exercise does not help.