Improving Your Cholesterol Levels With Your Diet

Typical cholesterol levels which are considered safe or healthy usually fall below 200 total. Doctors usually like to see their patients have even lower cholesterol levels however. Levels which fall below 180 are generally considered to be far superior and usually indicate excellent health. If however you fall on the other end of the spectrum and you have cholesterol levels which fall on the high side then you are at a notably increased risk for developing arterial disease and heart disease.

The Importance Of Low Cholesterol Levels

A low cholesterol count basically mean that there is less arterial plaque accumulating in side your arteries. When there is less plaque then that means your arteries are more likely to remain flexible and free from clogging. This is why cholesterol counts which are high are so alarming. When there is more cholesterol circulating through the blood stream then there is more potential for arterial blockage.

Lowering your cholesterol levels with your diet basically requires that you do two things. You need to stop consuming foods which are high in bad cholesterol such as excessive portions of meat and highly processed foods. Secondly you have to increase the consumption levels of foods which do the opposite. Foods that increase or support your circulating levels of HDL cholesterol allow your body to more efficiently sweep away excess bad cholesterol.

To accomplish these two steps with your diet you will have to make a few changes. Depending upon your situation these changes might be difficult to enact. For some however the changes won't be difficult at all. You have to think of this as a cholesterol improvement diet which serves the purpose of improving your cholesterol count rather than spawning weight loss. Start by replacing all processed foods with natural foods. Use twice the levels of fruits and vegetable that you used to use in your cooking.

Similarly decrease the quantity of meat you consume. You do not have to cut it out entirely you just need to know that this is one of the main causes of elevated cholesterol levels. Decreasing the quantity you eat will help a lot. Lastly replace some of the meat you ordinarily would have eaten with fish and seafood. This encourages the elevation of good cholesterol which acts to moderate over all cholesterol levels. By doing all these things your cholesterol improvement diet should bring lasting change to your over all health.

For more information on this subject see these related articles on how to lower ehow.com/how_5323690_lower-cholesterol-levels-better-nutrition.html LDL cholesterol levels and follow an infobarrel.com/Starting_An_LDL_Cholesterol_Diet LDL cholesterol diet.