5 Lifestyle Tips for Keeping Your Cholesterol in Check

Maintaining good cholesterol is a key factor in reducing your risk of heart disease, including heart attacks. If you are struggling with high cholesterol, there are several approaches to help manage your cholesterol, keep your numbers down, and reduce your risk of heart disease.

One of the more popular ways to manage high cholesterol is through medication. However, if you are struggling to stay on track with taking your medication, or want alternatives to taking medication, there are lifestyle changes you can make to lower your numbers. However, given the serious nature of high cholesterol, you will still need to partner with a good internist to help you or your loved one keep cholesterol numbers down.

Syed Farhat Zaidi, MD, and the staff at Integrative Primary Care specialize in internal medicine, and can help you manage your cholesterol while you find the right approaches to help you in your quest for good heart health.

Here are five lifestyle tips you can implement to keep your cholesterol in check. 

Heart-healthy dietary changes

Changing what you eat can help you lower your cholesterol, and along with it, your risk of heart disease. According to Healthline, focusing on a diet high in monounsaturated fats can not only help reduce your levels of low-density lipoproteins (“LDL”), but they also help protect your heart by boosting high-density lipoproteins (“HDL”), which are beneficial to your heart health. 

Tiny changes you can implement include consuming foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids, which include fish like salmon or nuts like walnuts. Flaxseeds, which can be used in many diverse ways, are also a good source of omega-3. 

Increase exercise

Diet and exercise usually go hand-in-hand when it comes to lowering the risk for most diseases.  This is certainly the case if you want to lower your cholesterol. The good news is you don’t necessarily need to join a gym or go too far outside of your comfort zone.  

Simple activities like walking can help lower your cholesterol. Since your internist will likely be most familiar with your overall health, you should have a consultation to determine what types of activities will be most beneficial to your health goals. 

Add more color to your plate

Colorful fruits and vegetables will not only spruce up your plate, but they will also have a beneficial impact on your heart health. According to researchers at Harvard Medical School, the more colorful your plate, the better. So, add lots of color to your plate. Some of the suggested foods include leafy greens, yellow squash, carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, plums, and blueberries. 

You can have fun experimenting with colorful foods while keeping your cholesterol in check. If you need recommendations or suggestions on what kinds of colorful foods will be beneficial, talk to your internist. Internal medicine is focused on conditions inside your body, so an internist is perfectly positioned to offer good advice.

Cholesterol management is one of the many services offered at Integrative Primary Care. If you need help keeping your cholesterol in check, give the professionals at Integrative Primary Care a call today at (281) 369-8543 or you can book an appointment directly online.