Simple Ways to Boost Your 'Good' Cholesterol

Simple Ways to Boost Your 'Good' Cholesterol

How to increase Good Cholesterol?

Boosting Good Cholesterol or HDL:

The major problem why most Indians fail to maintain a healthy lifestyle is that they are not well informed about their body and nutrition requirements. Most young men and women in India today are facing the crisis of lifestyle management. At one end, the glamor of Western culture, night clubs, pubs and parties attract them and on the other hand, their families restrain them from stepping out of cultural heredity. Hanging between the two, most young men and women face depression where food habits become erratic. Even if this is not the case, the fast and busy life and taste of Western lifestyle push them way too far where they fail to maintain healthy food habits. One of the most visible problems is cholesterol.


Cholesterol Types:

Cholesterol can be controlled easily without any medication. It is just a matter of knowing some facts! Barely enough young adults are aware that our body has two different types of cholesterol - the LDL and the HDL. The LDL or the low-density lipoprotein is the actual bad guy! It accumulates in the arteries and is highly dangerous because it can cause heart diseases. On the other hand, the HDL or the high-density lipoprotein is the good guy. The higher the concentrations of HDL in the body, the lower is the risk of LDL causing heart disease because, increase in HDL helps to reduce LDL. So, how do you boost your good cholesterol?


How to Increase Good Cholesterol?

You can boost your good cholesterol in a number of ways that are natural and free of medical aid. These must be the preferred method because with these methods, body gets a chance to improve its strength and become more resistant to diseases in a natural way. Let’s find out what can be done.


Exercise to Improve Good Cholesterol:

This has no alternative! Exercise will increase the HDL level in the body and lower the count of LDL and this will increase stamina and energy, muscles will be toned, slow down the aging process, reduce fat, increase your agility and reflexes and also increase your concentration level.


Give Up Bad Habits to Improve Good Cholesterol:

Smoking is a bad habit. The nicotine in cigars, cigarettes and any other smoking objects increases the chances of cardiac arrest as well as angina (chest pain). This happens because the nicotine is known for constricting the arteries. Studies have also shown that when nicotine intake of the body goes down to zero, the HDL increases in count by 10%.


Consume Healthy Fats to boost Good Cholesterol:

Fats, like the cholesterol, are of two types – unhealthy and healthy. Unhealthy fat accumulates in your body and makes you obese. Healthy fat helps to increase the HDL count in the body. If you cannot eat fish directly (allergic to fish), you can consume Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acid supplements. You can also include monounsaturated fats in your diet like seeds, nuts, peanut butter, avocados etc.


Drink Wine to Increase HDL:

This may sound a bit contradictory to bad habits and not many can accept this because of family restrictions. However, if you can, drinking one glass of red wine everyday will help to control LDL and increase HDL because red wine has phenolic antioxidants. White wine will do but the level of phenolic antioxidants is less in white wine compared to red wine.

It is high time that you really start doing something to boost your good cholesterol. Why not start by quitting smoking? That will save you some money too!

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Reviewed By:

Dr. Kaushal M. Bhavsar (MBBS, MD)

Assistant Professor in Pulmonary Medicine, GMERS Medical College, Ahmedabad