How to lower cholesterol? Can the diet help us?
Those with high cholesterol don’t just have to focus on nutrition, as so many other things affect increased cholesterol production , and not just what we get from food.

Cholesterol is a very important type of lipid for our health, because it participates in many different functions in our body. For example, it is used to produce steroid hormones, including sexual ones and allows us to synthesize vitamin D.

Today, compared to the past, the maximum range of normal cholesterol values ​​has lowered: that is, a total cholesterol lower than or equal to 200 mg / dl is considered in the norm, while beyond this value we begin to talk about cholesterol at the limit and then about high cholesterol, if the value exceeds or is equal to 240 mg / dl. In addition to total cholesterol, the ratio of total cholesterol / HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins that clean the arteries and therefore are defined as good cholesterol) is important and is used to establish cardiovascular risk .

HOW TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL?

In recent years, everything has been said about cholesterol and the opposite of everything.
There is a real battle between scientists to change the guidelines on the limit consumption of foods high in cholesterol. On the one hand we have scientists and doctors who argue that foods that contain cholesterol do not raise cholesterol, on the contrary, they lower it, and that the problem, if anything, is carbohydrates.
On the other hand, we have the approach to lowering cholesterol that many know, that is, limiting the foods that are rich in it starting from egg yolks, red meats and processed meats, fried foods and a low-fat diet. .
It is worth remembering that at the moment, the guidelines support the second line of action, the one we all know.

HOW TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL: THE RULES BEYOND DIET

However, it is important that high cholesterol sufferers aim not only to exclude or moderately eat certain foods, but to completely review their lifestyle.

1. Keep your blood sugar under control, eating balanced meals between carbohydrates and proteins;
2. do physical activity;
3. reduce smoking and alcohol or eliminate them altogether;
4. avoid stress;
5. choose a highly digestible diet, reducing intestinal inflammation;
6. spend as much time as possible in the sun and outdoors;
7. improve sleep.

All of these things are not strictly about nutrition but affect our cholesterol levels.
Even those with a slow thyroid must find suitable hormone therapy, because hypothyroidism often leads to higher cholesterol and triglycerides. On the next page we find a 5 day diet plan to lower cholesterol. If we are comfortable with this diet we can continue it by talking to our doctor and then test our blood cholesterol levels again.