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A viewer wants to know, "are there any steps I can take to improve my good cholesterol?"
Well, congratulations on asking about the good cholesterol and wanting to improve your
health. Well, let's just do a quick review. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance
throughout our bodies, and it's important for bodily functions. But, as you know, too
much of the bad cholesterol can lead to things such as cardiovascular disease, and we'll
talk a little bit about the importance of the good cholesterol. Overall, your total
cholesterol levels should be below 200, and the bad cholesterol, also called the low density
lipoprotein should be lower than 130 milligrams per deciliter, or, ideally, under 100. The
good cholesterol, or the high density lipoprotein cholesterol, should be over 40, or, ideally,
over 60. And, by the way, the good cholesterol really helps to get rid of the bad cholesterol
out of your body. But before you make some changes, make sure you check with your physician
to determine if your good cholesterol level needs to increase and whether it will help
you decrease your heart disease risk. So what can you do if you want to raise that good
cholesterol level? Well, there are several very easy steps you can take. Number 1, eat
a healthy diet. It's been recommended that you decrease the amounts of bad fats in your
diet, such as trans fats and saturated fats; but, you can increase the good types of fats
in your diet, such as the fats that we see in canola oil, peanut oil, and olive oil.
Eat a high fiber diet, but also watch the amounts of bad carbohydrates in your diet
because a high carbohydrate diet can decrease the levels of good cholesterol. Also, if you
are exercising, great job, but if you're not, you may want to start that because exercise
also leads to raising the good cholesterol. So, a combination of good diet as well as
good amounts of exercise can lead you to a healthy weight, which alone can increase your
good cholesterol. It's been found that, if you reduce your weight just by 6 pounds, can
raise your good cholesterol by a point or so. So, really good news there. If you smoke,
get some steps and some help to stop smoking. And, also, if you don't smoke, don't start,
because smoking can decrease the amount of good cholesterol in your body. So, you can
talk to your doctor about lifestyle changes. If these lifestyle changes don't seem to work
and your doctor still feels you need to get some help in raising your good cholesterol
level, there are some medications that can used, that your doctor can prescribe. So,
again, congratulations on knowing about the good cholesterol and wanting to improve your
health.