Although we all know that reducing cholesterol is very important to lead a healthy life, but is it possible at all to reduce it naturally? Experts say that it is, but it requires strong determination and a lot of patience to achieve your goal, as natural remedies take a lot of time to show positive results. The biggest problem of high cholesterol is our lifestyle that has changed dramatically in the past few decades. When you consider the ways to reduce cholesterol, the first thing to start working on is your lifestyle:
Lifestyle Changes and Cholesterol
If you look at your grandparents, you will notice that there were significant differences in the way they used to live. Most of our grandparents engaged themselves in jobs that required plenty of manpower and there was very limited usage of processed food. Similarly, they used to sleep early and their activities were mostly done outdoors. But when it comes to our age, think about all those television episodes we finished watching so far! If we would have written a book in that time, most of us would have finished writing a complete encyclopedia.
Urbanization has created new job opportunities, but most of us have jobs that do not require much physical labor. Similarly, a lot of us rely on fast food as the source for daily food and it is not uncommon for us to sleep really late and get up late. When we are young, we do not realize how our habits can affect our lifestyle, but in the long run, our habits will take its toll on our body and it will usually be too late to do something about it. It’s very important to start bringing changes to your lifestyle so that you can enjoy healthy living.
Lifestyle Changes You Can Try
Bringing lifestyle changes may sound like a task easier said than done, but as the famous saying by Napoleon goes, “Nothing is impossible” so you need to try something right away.
- Weight -Obesity is the biggest culprit in high cholesterol for most of us. Even an extra 2 kilogrammes of weight can take its toll on our body. So if you can lose at least 2 kilogrammes, you are fighting against high cholesterol. Try weight loss workouts and diet plans to bring positive results. There are a lot of foods that reduce cholesterol and including them in your diet can go a long way.
- Diet Plan- When you consider a diet to reduce cholesterol,the first thing to say goodbye to are foods that contain trans-fats. Saturated fats are also not good for your body. Try whole grains, oily fishes, nuts, vegetables, fruits and lean meat to reduce cholesterol. Junk foods, ice creams etc should be completely avoided.
- Workouts -If you can’t work out every day in a week, that’s fine, but you should find time to work out at least three days in a week. However, people who have excessive cholesterol levels should try something beyond this and it’s important for them to find time to work out at least six days in a week so that they can reduce a significant amount of weight, thus bringing down their bad cholesterol levels. Moderate workouts can’t help you in bringing bad cholesterol levels really low.
- Smoking and Drinking- You need to stay away from smoking completely to reduce cholesterol. A little amount of alcohol is known to have an impact on reducing cholesterol levels, but alcohol consumption is not recommended for those who do not consume alcohol at all, as the impact is significantly lower. Those who do should restrict themselves to one or two drinks so that they can stay healthy.
These are some simple lifestyle changes that can have a dramatic effect on your cholesterol and you will be surprised how they can bring a change in your life.