Maintaining a normal level of cholesterol is the target of every one over the age of forty years because this group is reliable to develop complications more likely in case of presence of high LDL to HDL ratios. There are several steps that you have to take to get yourself away from the center of the target group that could be affected with cholesterol complications.
Obesity or being overweight is a very high risk factor because more fat means more cholesterol directly. It does not need any conversion but the amount of cholesterol is directly proportional to the amount of fat in the body, although in some cases lean people may suffer from high cholesterol level. This occurs in particular cases where the person has insufficient LDL receptors on the surface of the liver.
Reducing your weight is the best decision that you can take in such case and this could be done through two different methods. The first method is the decrease in the dietary cholesterol intake but limiting the amount of meat, poultry and fish in your regular meals and when you eat any kind of meat you stick to the grilled non fat portions. The other method is through exercising regularly, exercising flushes out cholesterol and burn it for getting sufficient level of energy for the muscles. It is a complete circle so you need to work from both ways to reach the desired target weight you want.
Smoking and high level of alcohol intake can also contribute in increasing the incidence of atherosclerosis so; a lower level of LDL with smoking and high alcohol intake could deliver the same effect of high level of LDL alone.
Diabetes is another risk factor that may help the cholesterol to develop heart attacks and strokes. In general, any diseases or ailment that help in decreasing the elasticity of the blood vessels and increases the accumulation of the cholesterol on the walls would increase the incidence of coronary diseases, heart attacks and strokes.
People who suffer from such ailments should monitor their cholesterol level closely and measure the total cholesterol level in the blood on regular basis to detect any slight change in the case as early interference means lower risk and higher cure rates.
Quitting smoking and decreasing the amount of alcohol is mandatory for those who fall into the target group because these factors increase the incidence of complications exponentially.