Health Tip: What's Behind High Cholesterol?
High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease. If your numbers are rising, there are a few possible reasons.
The U.S. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute lists these factors that can affect blood cholesterol:
- A diet high in saturated fat or cholesterol-rich foods.
- Being overweight.
- Not getting enough exercise.
- Getting older, and being a postmenopausal female.
- A family history of high cholesterol.
Health Tip: Keep Cholesterol Under Control
Too much dietary cholesterol can lead to high cholesterol levels in the blood, which can be a risk factor for heart disease.
The Cleveland Clinic offers these suggestions to help lower your cholesterol:
- Avoid high-fat or fried foods.
- When you do eat foods with fat, look for foods with unsaturated, not saturated, fat.
- Reduce the amount of red meat that you eat, and eat more fish and poultry.
- Get enough soluble fiber by eating plenty of fruits, beans, peas and oats.
- Don't eat more than three egg yolks per week.
- Get plenty of exercise, maintain a healthy body weight, and stop smoking.
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