Six things you can do to manage your cholesterol

The importance of managing cholesterol

Before discussing how to manage your cholesterol, it’s perhaps worth considering why it might be worth your while going to the bother of doing this.

It’s easy to get a bit blasé about statistics, but it is hard to get away from the fact that heart disease and strokes (it’s probably sensible to lump them together) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Another rather worrying fact is that statistically, more often than not, heart disease presents with a heart attack, no warning or gradual build up, just a critical event and possible death.

Understanding the risks: why cholesterol matters

So as one of the modifiable risks (one that we have the power to change) of vascular disease, high cholesterol is a good one to look at. Some risks we can’t change such as our family history of heart disease. If though, like me, you are unlucky enough to have a strong family history of heart disease (my Dad, a non-smoker, had a CABG aged 58) it’s probably even more important to pay attention to this biomarker. It’s not the biggest risk, that is smoking (so if you smoke, look at this first), but otherwise this is a great place to start improving your cardiovascular health.

How to test your cholesterol levels

So enough of the doom and gloom, while heart disease is the most prevalent of age related conditions, it is also more easily prevented than many of the others. The first thing to do is to get a blood test, as like blood pressure, it’s quite difficult to know if you have a problem unless you get tested. In this case a simple blood test is necessary to check your levels of LDL and HDL cholesterol. Simply put, the HDL (High density lipoprotein) is protective and the LDL (low density lipoprotein) is not. So an ideal result is a low level of LDL and a comparatively high level of HDL.

One way you can test your cholesterol levels is using MyHealthChecked’s Cholesterol Profile Blood Test. This test will give you a status report of your current HDL, LDL, total cholesterol: HDL ratio, non-HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides levels. Alongside your results, you also gain access to doctor-review results including a letter of recommendation on the next steps you can take to optimise your heart health. To take one step further into your cardiovascular health, you can use MyHealthChecked’s Heart Profile Blood Test which not only provides results on the same cholesterol biomarkers as the cholesterol test, but you can also gain access to insights of your blood glucose levels (HbA1c) to give you an indication as to whether your average blood glucose levels over the previous three months are in good health.

Generally speaking, most patients I’ve spoken to over my years as a GP have been keen to lower and improve their cholesterol levels by changing their diet and lifestyle, rather than immediately opting to take a drug, such as a statin (effective and well tolerated though they are) to do the job. Sometimes success is difficult to achieve, as there is a strong genetic component to the levels of cholesterol that we each have, and these can’t be altered, at least not quite yet. However, what simple changes should we nevertheless try to make:

1. Include some soy in your diet, the plant chemicals known as phytoestrogens within soy, can help reduce levels of cholesterol. Common sources of soy include tofu, tempeh or soy milk

2. Eat more fibre. Vegetables and fruit are, to coin a phrase, great fibre providers, but the soluble fibre found in oats, lentils and beans is very useful. Soluble fibre binds to cholesterol in the digestive system and allows it to be removed more easily from the body

3. Eat more Omega-3-Fatty acids. These are found in fatty fish, the highest concentration is in mackerel, but sardines and salmon are also good. They don’t directly lower LDL cholesterol but can help raise the protective HDL and also reduce TG levels

4. Add in plant sterols and stanols. These are natural compounds that are found in many plant based foods such as nuts, beans and peas, as well as fortified foods such as spreads/yoghourts. They reduce the absorption of cholesterol from the intestine, thereby lowering LDL cholesterol

5. If you can, eliminate or reduce Trans Fats. These are generally found in fried and processed foods. They raise LDL cholesterol and tend to lower HDL cholesterol, so exactly the opposite of what we are trying to achieve

6. Increase your levels of exercise. Exercise is vital for good heart health on many and multiple levels, and is particularly beneficial for increasing HDL levels and often helps to lower LDL as well