How Can I Lower My Cholesterol and Reduce My Risk of Heart Disease?
A few simple changes can help lower your cholesterol:
- Eat low cholesterol foods. The American Heart Association recommends that you limit your average daily cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams. If you have heart disease, limit your daily intake to less than 200 milligrams. People can significantly lower their dietary cholesterol intake by keeping their dietary intake of saturated fats low and by avoiding foods that are high in saturated fat and that contain substantial amounts of dietary cholesterol.
- Quit smoking. Smoking lowers HDL ("good") cholesterol levels. This trend can be reversed if you quit smoking.
- Exercise. Exercise increases HDL cholesterol in some people. Even moderate-intensity activities, if done daily, can help control weight, diabetes, and high blood pressure -- all risk factors for heart disease.
- Take medication as prescribed by your doctor. Sometimes making changes to your diet and increasing exercise is not enough to bring your cholesterol down. You may also need to take a cholesterol lowering drug.
How Is High Cholesterol Treated?
The main goal in lowering cholesterol is to lower your LDL and raise your HDL. There are two key ways to lower cholesterol: eat a heart-healthy diet and take cholesterol-lowering medications.
Doctors determine your "goals" for lowering LDL based on the number of risk factors you have for heart disease.
- If you have 0-1 risk factor for heart disease, you are at low-to-moderate risk. Lifestyle changes are recommended to keep the cholesterol in check.
- If you have 2 or more risk factors, you are at moderate risk or next-highest risk, depending on what heart disease risk factors you have. Sometimes your doctor will try lifestyle changes, but most of these people require cholesterol-lowering drugs.
- If you have known heart disease, diabetes or multiple risk factors, you are at high, or very high, risk. These people require a combination of cholesterol-lowering drugs and lifestyle changes to control their cholesterol levels.
What Drugs Are Used to Treat High Cholesterol?
Cholesterol-lowering drugs include:
Cholesterol-lowering medicine is most effective when combined with a low-cholesterol diet.
Reviewed by the doctors in the Department of Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation at The Cleveland Clinic Heart Center.
