For many illnesses and diseases we can take medication prescribed by our doctor to combat the illness or disease.
A lot of people find this the easy way to deal with a health issue.
However some people do like to try natural ways to deal with their health issues.
Cholesterol is one of those health issues that people can treat naturally.
Remember cholesterol is a fatty substance that our liver and other cells produce.
Our body needs cholesterol to survive but like many things some cholesterol is not good for you.
There are basically two types of cholesterol, the good cholesterol known also as High Density Lipoprotein(HDL) and the bad cholesterol known as Low Density Lipoprotein(LDL).
When a person has high cholesterol that means that they have high levels of LDL in their blood.
When cholesterol forms it needs a way to travel through the body so it adheres itself to a protein in your blood.
If it adheres itself to low density lipoprotein it tends to get into spots in the arteries where it can buildup plaque.
The buildup of plaque will restrict the flow of blood through the arteries causing a potential blockage.
These blockages could cause a stroke or heart attack.
Smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise can all contribute to high cholesterol levels in the blood.
Now the good cholesterol or HDL can actually remove the bad cholesterol found in our blood.
Certain foods can actually help you to lower your bad cholesterol.
Some of these foods are oatmeal, cold water fish and garlic.
Exercising will also help you to reduce the bad levels of cholesterol by essentially raising the levels of good cholesterol in your blood.
In order for exercising to have any effect in lowering a person's cholesterol levels, a person should exercise 30 minutes plus, 3-5 times a week.
In order to lower your cholesterol naturally you should find out first what your levels of cholesterol are.
Your doctor can do that through a simple blood test.
In the United States cholesterol levels are measured in milligrams per deciliter of blood.
In Canada cholesterol is measured in millimoles per liter of blood.
In the United States for a desirable level your overall cholesterol should be below 200mg/dL, your HDL should be above 60mg/dL optimally, your LDL should be between 100-129 mg/dL.
If you are a person that is high risk for heart disease then you should try to lower your levels of LDL.
Now that you know what your levels are you can start to lower your cholesterol naturally through exercise and diet.
You can increase foods that will help to lower your cholesterol and reduce foods that will increase your LDL.
You can also start to exercise if you do not already.
This does not mean that you have to go out and join some fancy gym and go lift weights, jog etc every day.
One of the best things that you can do is walk.
These two simple things diet change and exercise can help you to lower cholesterol naturally.