When talking about cholesterol, most people
would immediately think that it’s a bad thing. This is a misconception because
there are two types of cholesterol, the good and the bad one. The one you
should avoid is LDL cholesterol, and the HDL cholesterol is the one you should
embrace.
Today we are going to focus on increasing
the amount of HDL cholesterol in our body. This is important because HDL
cholesterol holds important task in repairing cell walls and producing
hormones. According to recent study, 1 point of increase in HDL level will
lower the risk of heart attack by 6%.
So here are some simple steps to increase
the level of your good cholesterol (HDL cholesterol):
- First is to lose weight for overweight people. The research shows that every 6.6. pounds of weight you dropped will increase 1 point of HDL.
- If you smoke, then you’ll want to stop smoking to increase the HDL cholesterol level. Your body will produce more HDL two weeks after you stop smoking. You can gain up to 4 point of HDL this way.
- Third is to exercise regularly. Try to do mild exercise (the ones that make you panting, but not out of breath) for 20 minutes a day, and you will increase the HDL cholesterol significantly. Remember to take things slowly if you haven’t exercise for a long time.
- Other ways to increase good cholesterol is to eat nuts every day. You can choose from various nuts such as almond, peanut, macadamia nut, pecan, and walnut. Try to eat around 67g of them per day.
- According the American Journal of Medicine, consuming 1000mg of calcium everyday will also increase the level of HDL in your body.
It is true that there are some cholesterol
factors that we can’t control, such as family history, gender, and age.
However, the role of diet and healthy lifestyle is crucial in determining the
balance of your HDL and LDL cholesterol in your body.
Tag :
Cholesterol
