By all means, cholesterol is a natural component of our body. It is a waxy, fat-like substance made in the liver and found in certain foods, such as from animals, like dairy products, eggs, and meat. It is needed by our body to function properly, make vitamin D, build cell walls, and create bile salts that help you digest fat. However, too much cholesterol can increase a person’s risk of developing heart disease arterial disease and strokes.
Contributing factors to having high blood cholesterol may be controllable while others are not. And these include: diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol, lack of exercise, family history, being overweight, age and gender cholesterol levels rise with increasing age, and men are more likely to be affected than women, and drinking too much alcohol.
There are two ways to lower cholesterol levels. One is with the help of lifestyle changes including changing diet, managing weight and increasing exercise. The other is the combination of lifestyle changes with prescribe cholesterol treatment.
However, prevention is better than cure. Any person may be able to prevent the development of high cholesterol by maintaining a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet, stopping smoking, not drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and taking regular exercise. But, this may not apply to some especially those that have family history of high cholesterol. They might get it even if they live a healthy lifestyle.
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