High levels of bad cholesterol is one of the most biggest health problems that many people are facing nowadays. With the high levels of bad cholesterol or LDL cholesterol in the bodies, people can face various disease and heart attacks or strokes. Let's get right into what cholesterol is and how much is the correct amount or the wrong amount we need.

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a fat like waxy substance that’s found in every single cell of our bodies. This include the blood-forming cells and the stem cells. The cholesterol help in synthesis of hormones, vitamin D and help in digestion too. But high level of cholesterol can cause various heart disease.

What is Bad Cholesterol?

As the cholesterol level in the body goes beyond the healthy level (excess cholesterol in the blood), it joins with other components which end up forming plaque. As the fatty matter begins to strike the insides of the arteries. The disease that causes the arteries to be choked by plaque accumulation is named atherosclerosis. This term is frequently used for the coronary artery diseases. Coronary artery disease relates to the narrowing of our coronary arteries and could even need blockage.

If arteries become narrow they can cause blockages of blood supply to vital organs like the heart and brain which in turn results in either stroke or attack. Additionally, we have a different form of cholesterol not common in LDL called HDL cholesterol which is known for removing LDL cholesterol from the human bloodstream. This type of cholesterol can lead to enhanced risk of cardiovascular diseases when there are high levels.

Causes of Bad Cholesterol

The main reason for getting “bad” cholesterol is living an unhealthy lifestyle which is usual among the people in modern society. As we are too busy with our hectic lives to spare a minute to ponder how to live, we are ignorant about it now.

• Unhealthy Eating: “Fast foods” have a lot of bad fat if you eat them. The fats in fried foods, processed food, oily food, baked food etc. are not healthy for our body. And either of these fats can raise the levels of the bad cholesterol (LDL).

• Lack of Exercise: Due to lots of activity in our life we have been neglecting to move our bodies and doing some physical exercise. Our body gets inactive without physical activities or just sitting down for long hours leading to a reduction of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol).

• Smoking: The regular habit of smoking reduces the HDL cholesterol level, especially when concern is the female smokers.

• Genetics: Cholesterol can also be caused by the factors of genes. Medical conditions, malnutrition, poor weight control also can cause high cholesterol in the body.

Keep a safe distance from all mentioned habits to have a healthy heart and body with the absence of bad cholesterol.

How to bring down LDL cholesterol levels and avoid attacks:

We can adopt various lifestyle changes and medical interventions to keep our body free from bad cholesterol:

Healthy food: A healthy diet full of fruits, green leafy vegetables and whole grains can help bring down the LDL cholesterol level. Serving food rich in omega-3 fatty acids, increasing the soluble fiber intake, and adding whey protein will make you have healthy LDL cholesterol and a healthy heart.

Lose unhealthy weight: Overweight carriers increase the risk of high LDL cholesterol levels. Unhealthy weight can be caused by the consumption of a large amount of beverages, snacking popcorn, eating fries, candies, etc. Hence, look for ways to exercise, so that you forget risk of diseases associated with overweight, like heart problems, breathing issues, pains, etc. Drinking your juices, eating your greens, and exercising will help you lose those extra pounds which are the culprits of having the high LDL cholesterol

Exercise daily: People should be physically active even at whatever age or whatsoever health status. Nevertheless in order to prevent the high levels of LDL cholesterol, begin to work out every day. Dancing to lively music, playing football or taking a brisk walk are all good examples of exercise. As for LDL, you may run into a problem if you are inactive. Having moving about and being dynamic will help you increase HDL, thus, reducing LDL.

Quit smoking: Smokers who cessation of smoking raised the HDL cholesterol by 5% in one year in one study. Everyday breathing can raise the level of bad cholesterol as a result of smoking; therefore, quit smoking at a slower rate and, thus, the level of LDL in the body will be low.

Take medications as suggested: The problem is that sometimes, just lifestyle modification will not suffice to regulate the level of bad cholesterol. Therefore, follow what the doctor instructs you and take the drugs as prescribed with the changes you have made in your lifestyle. Your LDL cholesterol level would go down and thus your heart will remain healthy and safe. Your heart will be safe and healthy if you do both.

Conclusion

Too much Bad Cholesterol can actually harm your body if not treated accordingly. It may lead to heart attacks, strokes and so on, which are all cardiovascular diseases. Awareness of the effect of LDL cholesterol on your health can start lifestyle changes such as eating healthy, avoiding junk, exercising widely, maintaining a healthy weight, quitting smoking and so on. If these may not work, take the medications as advised or prescribed by your doctor. Through the intention and maintenance of your body’s and mind’s health, and doing everything necessary to reduce your LDL cholesterol level, you can keep up the health of your liver, heart and mind and longer have a free life.