High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol – 7 Simple Steps For Improving HDL Levels

Imagine for a moment that there was not trash pickup at your place of business or in the neighborhood where you live but despite this minor problem everyone continued to stack their trash on the street. After a short while traffic flow would be disrupted and at some point life as you once knew it would stop. Our not so farfetched story above is exactly what happens when high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels drop or HDL (good cholesterol) and low density lipoprotein levels or LDL (bad cholesterol) rise.



In the world of cholesterol is ones of checks and balances and as long as there are enough high density lipoprotein cholesterol molecules to collect any excess cholesterol floating around then the chances are pretty good our arteries will remain clear and the chances of a serious cardiovascular event such as a heart attack or stroke are dramatically reduced.



Most experts in the field have established a low density lipoprotein to high density lipoprotein ration of 2.5 to 1 as the tipping point for cardiovascular health. For example if you have an excellent HDL cholesterol reading of 60 your LDL could be as high as 150. On the other hand if your HDL was dangerously low at 40 milligrams for each deciliter of blood then LDL levels could not exceed 100 mg/dl.



The fly in our cholesterol ratio pudding



As with most things there is one little problem with achieving healthy cholesterol ratios by simply raising high density lipoprotein cholesterol and that is there are only a handful of effective ways to boost levels, none of which involve pharmaceuticals.



While the pharmaceutical industry has been hard at work on solving this problem they have yet to find answers to the high density lipoprotein cholesterol riddle. Yes, it true that LDL cholesterol lowering medications such as Lipitor and Crestar may slightly raise HDL but on average it is only between only between 0 and 8 percent.



Well then how can I raise HDL?



Believe it or not there are a number of ways to give your high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels a boost without breaking the bank. These would include:



*Daily exercise: As little as 5 minutes a day might help, especially if you are sedentary. That said, conventional wisdom states that it takes from 20 to 30 minutes of moderate intensity daily exercise to substantially improve HDL.



*Shed a few pounds: Being overweight is like driving your car with the parking brake on. There are many negative effects two of which are raising bad cholesterol and lowering good cholesterol.



*Stay away from cigarettes and cigarette smoke: One of the fastest ways to give waning high density lipoprotein cholesterol a boost is to steer clear of first and second hand smoke.



*Say no to trans fatty acids: These tiny cardiovascular troublemakers are in many of the foods we consume and are generally labeled "partially hydrogenated vegetable oils". If you notice these four words listed on the label of product you are thinking about purchasing look for an alternative.



*Drinking in excess doesn’t help matters: Three drinks a day has been shown to lower good cholesterol.



*Omega 3 fatty acids: There is quite a bit of emerging research suggesting that the omega 3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) taken regularly can help support good cholesterol without sending your bad cholesterol skyrocketing.



*Cholesterol reduction supplements can help: Don’t be fooled by the name. Certain natural ingredients contained in many of these products such policosanol, lecithin oil, and possibly red yeast rice have been shown to have a positive effective on high density lipoprotein cholesterol.



What else might help? There are a few other tips that can help you get those problematic cholesterol ratios back to healthy levels. A few examples would be consuming moderate amounts of monounsaturated fats (avocados, olive oil), eating a few dark skinned grapes every day, drinking 8 ounces of cranberry juice daily, and if you are a postmenopausal women daily calcium supplementation.



Rob Hawkins is an enthusiastic consumer advocate for natural health and natural living with over 10 years experience in the field.

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