How to reduce cholesterol: exercise
High cholesterol levels are a leading cause of heart disease. High cholesterol causes heart disease, stroke, and death. High cholesterol is commonly attributed to foods high in animal fat, such as meat, eggs, and cheese, and also processed foods such as crackers and cookies. More and more people rely on fast food to get them by, finding cooking inconvenient and healthy food too complicated. They do this at great risk to their health. Studies have shown that natural foods, that is, foods that come from the earth, do much to combat the growth of cholesterol and get rid of the cholesterol that's already there. Fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes (dried peas and beans), nuts, and seeds are all sources high in fiber, and are crammed with vitamins and nutrients and healthy fats.
Eating healthily, however, is not the only way to combat high cholesterol. Research has shown that physical exercise plays an important role as well. When you think of exercise, you need not think only of large, intimidating gyms, long, exhausting runs, or push-ups and sit-ups and weightlifting. Exercise means simply getting about more, walking up the stairs rather than taking the elevator, doing a bit of gardening, building something from scratch, getting your blood good and flowing and active.
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When you exercise, you lose weight, and losing weight is one of the key ways of lowering your cholesterol.
When you exercise, you build up the good form of cholesterol in your body (HDL), and break down the bad form (LDL).
Think of your body as a complicated plumbing system, a series of pipes much like the one that provides water to your house. If you did not use the pipes often, if you just let them sit, they would rust and even become filled with moss and gunk that would narrow their passages and make it impossible for water to get through.
Your veins and arteries can do the same thing over time, especially when aided by a diet high in fatty foods and a lifestyle low on exercise. Exercise gets your heart pumping, your blood flowing, so that it rushes through your system again and helps to clean out the buildup. Smooth-flowing blood means energy, vitality, and happiness for you. On the other hand, clogged veins mean an increase in the possibility of a blood clot which could give you a stroke, paralyzing you for life, or take your life away from you altogether.
If you haven't exercised in a long time, and want to reduce your cholesterol, it's okay to start slowly. Thirty minutes a day of physical exercise will help you take tremendous strides in lowering your cholesterol. Remember, it is not necessary to go lunging up mountains right away. You don't even have to do your thirty minutes all at once when you start. You could try breaking it up into three periods of ten minutes. Go on a brisk, ten-minute walk, try a bike ride or a swim. Over time you can pick up speed and exercise for longer periods.
Exercise, again, will shake up your blood and get it moving, it will reanimate your circulation system. It will also help you to lose weight, and excess weight is one of the main causes of high cholesterol. Exercise will get your body hungry for good foods. One of the most pleasant findings of food science is that a body fresh from exercise will in general crave fresh foods, and not fast or processed foods. Combine daily exercise with fruits, grains, and vegetables, and you will not only have a healthier body, your mind will be healthier and more at rest knowing it is being taken care of. And be sure to include your doctor in any new program you want to try out, as they will be able to help you decide the details of what is best for you.
