Exercise increases High Density Lipoprotein (HDL or “good cholesterol”) while decreasing LDL (or “bad cholesterol”).  The intensity of the exercise doesn’t matter, but its consistency does.  Accordingly, while you may not have time to go to the gym, you can squeeze the time out of a busy day to exercise if you take the long way!

• Ease into a vegetarian or flexitarian diet (a diet that is primarily vegetarian, but does include some occasional fish or chicken).  Steering clear of pork and beef, and cutting down on tne chicken, over several weeks, switch to vegetarian proteins from animal proteins.  To begin with, for example, limit beef to once a week and/or chicken once a week.  Then gradually, cut out all animal protein except for fish. (I admit that I’m still working on this resolution!)
• Broil or bake rather than fry.  Don’t eat the chicken skin.
• Eat broiled or baked fish high in fatty acid twice a week, choosing water-packed tuna and salmon, and/or take a fish oil (Omega 3 oil) or krill oil supplement.  However, remember that fish oil also acts as a blood thinner.
• Send in the subs: Choose low-fat or non-fat dairy products and fat-free cheeses, substituting skim-milk, sherbet, and ice-milk for their high-fat counterparts.  Even so, don’t worry about having enough calcium in your diet since dark green vegetables like spinach and broccoli also contain a lot of calcium.  Indeed, calcium is better retained if it comes from vegetables rather than dairy products.  If using oil, try canola and olive oil instead of vegetable oil; but, of course, if possible, use very little of these saturated fats.  
• Include a lot of fiber in your diet:  Try whole wheat bread and oatmeal, beans, cabbage, carrots, spinach, apples, oranges, and blueberries, starting with orange juice fortified with calcium for breakfast and a high-fiber cereal.  Adding fruit and walnuts to some sugar-free gelatin also makes for a delicious low-fat dessert. If you’re still worried about having enough fiber in your diet, take a soluble fiber supplement.  Ask a pharmacist to recommend an over-the-counter brand.
• Take a multiple-vitamin that includes Niacin B3, but be careful since too much Niacin has some side effects, notably flushing, head aches, cramps and nausea.  
• Supplement your diet with natural vitamin E and C as well as calcium.  Again, consult a pharmacist about the recommended dosage for your age and gender.
• Switch from brown to green tea while eliminating that dollop of milk in your hot tea or coffee.  Milk, incidentally, takes away from some of the health benefits of drinking tea.  Pregnant women, of course, should avoid coffee and tea as well as carbonated sodas.
• Drink one glass of red wine daily if a non-pregnant or lactating woman while men may drink up to two glasses of red wine.  Those who abstain from alcohol will find that grape juice similarly lowers cholesterol.

Now, a warning for families: The fight against cholesterol shouldn’t start at middle age, but in childhood.  That means that the family that takes walks and eats healthy meals together is a healthier family both physically and mentally. 

Also, check to see exactly what your children are doing in their Physical Education classes (if your local school district hasn’t already cut out PE classes)–sitting on the bleachers without suiting out doesn’t qualify as sufficient daily exercise.  If your children aren’t exercising enough, make sure that they join in family outings(skiing, hiking, and sailing) and/or, depending on each child’s temperament and physical aptitudes, either schedule individual and/or team sports and exercise activities for them, such as dancing, tennis, swimming, and basketball.  Meanwhile, encourage neighborhood pick up games of basketball, softball, and football as well as  traditional childhood activities (bike riding, jumping rope, and roller-skating), although for safety sake, a mom or dad might need to be on hand.

Moreover, consider packing their lunches with healthy foods rather than depending on the school to supply their lunches.  Many school cafeterias supply what most children and teenagers like to eat (pizza, hamburgers, and sodas) rather than what they need to ensure that they have a balanced diet.

Finally, while you may not want to wage a full-scale battle against cholesterol at this time, consider making at least a few of these changes for a healthier life style.

Recently a comprehensive analysis called a meta-analysis was performed on thirty-five previous studies that addressed the issue of exercise and HDL in an attempt to answer the question of how much exercise is needed to actually raise HDL levels. The results were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, May 28, 2007. The meta-analysis scrutinized about 1400 subjects who had taken part in previous trials looking at exercise and HDL in an attempt to quantify and further clarify the role exercise plays.

The researchers found after exercise training, the HDL levels of the exercise subjects were 2.53 mg/dl higher than subjects assigned to the control group who didn’t exercise, a rather modest gain. Furthermore, HDL levels only increased in those subjects who exercised at least one hundred and twenty minutes per week for thirty minutes per session. It didn’t appear that exercising more frequently or at a higher level of intensity improved HDL levels any further in the test subjects.

Analysis of Results:

It appears that aerobic exercise sessions of at least thirty minutes in length four times per week are required to cause a significant rise in HDL levels. Exercise sessions less than thirty minutes don’t appear to have a beneficial effect on HDL levels nor does excessively strenuous or very frequent exercise sessions appear to have any additional positive benefit on HDL. The overall effect of aerobic exercise on HDL is rather modest.

The bottom line is you’ll need to exercise aerobically at least thirty minutes at a stretch and do it at least four times a week to see any real effect on HDL levels. In addition, the effects of exercise alone on HDL levels may not be as dramatic as originally thought. This shouldn’t discourage anyone who’s trying to use exercise to help reduce the risk of heart disease. Exercise has been shown to have beneficial effects on a variety of cardiac risk factors such as lowering blood pressure and keeping weight under control. It should continue to be a part of any serious heart disease prevention program despite the more limited role that exercise and HDL may play.

High cholesterol and triglyceride in our blood is always related to the low lever of HDL (good cholesterol) and high level of LDL (bad cholesterol). High level of LDL is a sign of warning to our health as they may contribute to the thickening of artery walls (atherosclerosis). In short, plaque can stick to our arteries’ walls when blood carries high cholesterol and triglyceride passes through the artery. The artery will gradually become hardening and thicken which can finally trigger the health conditions.

According to the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the triglyceride levels are classified as follow (measured in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) :

Below are some excellent foods help to reduce both Lipids (fats) and Cholesterol levels in our blood stream:

One Bowl of Oat Porridge for Your Breakfast

You should eat a bowl of oat porridge for your breakfast. This food therapy should proceed constantly for eight weeks. In this way, the LDL concentration in the blood stream will decrease to 10 per cent. At the same time, the quantity of HDL in the blood stream will increase. Oat has lots of soluble and insoluble fibers which can act to inhibit the absorption of lipids and cholesterol in our stomach and intestine.

Half Bowl of Green Pea Soup for Your Lunch

You should have half bowl of green pea soup for your lunch. This food therapy should proceed constantly for eight weeks. After the eighth week, the LDL concentration will drop to 20 per cent. Foods from the bean group always contains sufficient and variety of ingredients that can reduce the level of cholesterol and fat. Like oat, green pea too, contains both soluble and insoluble fibers that help preventing the absorption of fats and cholesterol into our blood stream.

Three Pieces of Garlic for Your Dinner

You should eat three pieces of garlic a day for your dinner. There should proceed for eight consecutive weeks so that the LDL concentration in the blood will decrease to 10 per cent. You may eat either raw or cooked garlic; its effect in reducing the fat and cholesterol levels is the same.

Eat Half Raw Onion a Day (for Eight Consecutive Weeks)

It is better to eat raw onion though you may eat the cooked one. Its effect in reducing the fats and cholesterol levels is found to be more effective by eating raw onion. Its property to reduce the fats and cholesterol levels will be damaged when it is heated or cooked with high temperature.

Use Olive Oil for Preparing Your Meals (for Eight Consecutive Weeks)

Many researches have proved that olive oil plays an important role to protect our cardiovascular system. You should choose the olive oil with high-temperature extraction but not the one with the cold-pressing extraction. The latter has a very low quality in term of its nutritional value.

Eat an Apple a Day (for Eight Consecutive Weeks)

An apple contains lots of pectin. This substance is found to be effective in reducing fats and cholesterol levels in our blood stream.

Now, you can gain more health knowledge by visiting my health blog entitled HealthAssist. More upcoming updates and latest health information are right on the way!

1. Drink a little wine.
   

   Studies have shown that drinking one or two alcoholic drinks per day can raise your level of HDL. While any alcohol may have a positive raise HDL levels, the ideal choice would be wine since it has so many heart healthy antioxidants. Be sure to not exceed one to two drinks per day as this can cause other health related problems.

2. Discover the power of exercise.

   Regular exercise that raises your heart rate into the aerobic training zone for 30 minutes a day can increase HDL levels. A fast walk in the morning for 30-45 minutes can have positive effects on both HDL levels and heart health.

3. Eat the right kinds of fat.
   

   It’s impossible to completely exclude fats from your diet and it wouldn’t be healthy even if you could. It’s important to make sure you’re getting the right fats. Monounsaturated fats found in avocados, olive oil, and certain nuts can help raise your HDL levels and prevent heart disease. Avoid saturated fats and trans fats which are known to not only decrease HDL levels, but also raise levels of LDL.

4. Add some soy to your diet.

   Studies have shown that three servings of soy protein a day can help to increase HDL levels as well as lower LDL. This can translate into a significant reduction in the risk of heart disease.

5. Maintain a healthy weight.
   

   Being overweight not only lowers HDL levels, it also raises levels of LDL which translates into a higher risk of heart disease.

6. Increase your fiber intake.

   Two servings of fiber on a daily basis from such sources as oats, oat bran, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables has been shown to raise HDL levels while lowering levels of LDL.

These are all natural ways to increase HDL levels. If your HDL level is extremely low and you have a family history of heart disease, your doctor may recommend a prescription medication to raise your HDL and lower your LDL. If you’re concerned about the side effects of prescription drugs, you may want to give these strategies to raise your HDL level a try.