How to Control Your Cholesterol Ratio Naturally

When my cholesterol level was 230 I knew that cholesterol ratio is the leading indicator for heart disease potentiality. My doctor told me that my cholesterol ratio was high and reducing high cholesterol was important. But I really didn't know what having a high cholesterol ratio meant or how to reduce it. Today I want to explain both so you can lead to a longer, healthier and happier life.

An easy way to look at your cholesterol ratio is the ratio of your total cholesterol to your High-density Cholesterol (HDL). Your total cholesterol level is determined by adding your Low-density Cholesterol (LDL) and your HDL. Heart specialists refer to LDL as "bad" cholesterol and HDL as "good" cholesterol.

Your cholesterol ratio is calculated by dividing your HDL cholesterol level into your total cholesterol. So if you have a total cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL and an HDL cholesterol level of 50 mg/dL, your ratio would be 4:1, which would be good. The American Heart Association (americanheart.org) recommends that your goal should be to keep your ratio below 5:1 and optimally at 3.5:1.

Now that you know how your cholesterol ratio is determined, if it is above the 3.5:1 ratio, you're probably wondering how to bring it down. While it is not an easy process, barring genetic predisposition, it is fairly straightforward.

Here are 3 tips to reduce cholesterol naturally:

Step 1: Watch what you eat. Change your diet if you need to. Eliminate fatty foods like red meat and whole dairy. That means no more steaks, pizza or especially no hot dogs. You can treat yourself once every couple of weeks or so to lean red meat cuts or thin crust pizza with low fat cheese like part-skim mozzarella, but get used to eating boneless, skinless chicken breast or fish for dinner. Instead of pastries or ice cream have cholesterol reducing foods like fresh fruit for dessert. And eat as many green, leafy vegetables as possible, like spinach, kale, broccoli and the various lettuces available.

Step 2: Stay away from processed foods. Especially get rid of anything in your house that has High Fructose Corn Syrup or Trans Fats. No questions asked, just eliminate them.

Step 3: Start and maintain an exercise program. You need to exercise at least four times as week for at least twenty-five minutes. Make it part of your morning routine, because exercise is the only thing proven to raise HDL outside of prescription medication.

There you have it, 3 tips to improve your cholesterol ratio. If you start using them to day you can bring your cholesterol level back to normal and start feeling better in no time!

Wil Dieck is the founder of Total Mind Therapy and author of a workout program and eating tips to lose weight and get in shape e-Course that you can have at absolutely no charge. Drop by yournewbodycourse.com yournewbodycourse.com/ for your copy today.