How Do You Reduce High Cholesterol Without Taking Drugs?

High Cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular disease and therefore steps should be taken to reduce this level.

The Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) of the National Cholesterol Education Program has for the past decade recommended lifestyle changes as initial therapy in most patients with high cholesterol.

Tips for Reducing Cholesterol:

? Decreasing saturated and trans fat intake, which are derived from animal products such as meat, dairy and egg and are found in some plant-based sources such as coconut, palm and palm kernel oils. Avoid them as much as possible. Trans fats are used to extend the shelf life of processed foods, typically cookies, cakes, fries and donuts. Any item that contains "hydrogenated oil" or "partially hydrogenated oil" likely contains trans fats.

? Boosting consumption of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which are derived from vegetables and plants. This type of fat is preferable to other types of fat and can be found in olives, olive oil, nuts, peanut oil, canola oil, advocados, safflower, sesame, corn, cottonseed and soybean oils. Some studies have shown that these kinds of fats can actually lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and maintain HDL (good) cholesterol.

? Food fortification with plant stanols or sterols; Sterols and stanols are found in the plants. They are most effective when taken with food and are produced commercially to add to food. They are usually sold in the form of margarine but can occur in other forms like yoghurt. Rich natural sources include rice bran, avocado oil, original wheat germ and extra virgin olive oil.

? Isocaloric addition of tree nuts to the diet; this means that you add in tree nuts such as almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts but must remove an equal number of calories from your diet in other substances. (beware of nut allergy)

? 1 to 2 alcoholic drinks per day;

? and follow a Mediterranean, low-carbohydrate, or low-fat diet. The other diet that has been shown to be beneficial is a Portfolio diet which is a vegetarian diet rich in soy.

Other dietary strategies with less evidence to support their benefits include higher soluble fibre eg oats, soy protein intake, consumption of fatty marine fish or use of marine-derived omega-3 fatty acid supplements and red yeast rice supplements.

Regular aerobic exercise, especially for 2 hours or more per week, is associated with improvements in lipid levels.

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