Good Cholesterol

Ways to boost up HDL

Good Cholesterol is one of the many types of cholesterols we have circulating in our blood. It is known as high density lipoprotein cholesterol. It's one of the blood fats measured in the lipid panel blood test doctors perform. And it's the component that we want more of, because increasing HDL helps lower your risk of heart disease.

• HDL cholesterol normally makes up 20%-30% of total blood cholesterol.
• There's some evidence that HDL helps protect against the accumulation of plaques (fatty deposits) in the arteries.
• Research has given some indication that a 1% decrease in HDL cholesterol is linked to a 2%-3% increase in heart disease risk.
• HDL cholesterol levels are thought to have a genetic factor in some people.
• Women typically have higher HDL cholesterol levels than men. It is considered that levels of less than 40 mg/dL is low.

Some diet and lifestyle changes may help to increase "good" cholesterol levels.

Orange Juice. Drinking three cups of orange juice a day increases HDL levels by 21% over three weeks

Niacin. There is some evidence niacin (vitamin B3) helps increase HDL.

Blood Sugar. Food that increases your blood sugar tend to lower the HDL level.

Type of Fat in Diet. Replacing saturated fats with monounsaturated fats can not only help reduce levels of "bad" cholesterol, it may also increase levels of "good" cholesterol.

Soy. Soy protein, plus the isoflavones found in soy raised HDL levels, which could reduce coronary heart disease risk.

Alcohol in Moderation. Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol, especially with meals, appears to do two things to help reduce heart disease risk. it is said to increase HDL cholesterol levels, and enhances the movement of cholesterol deposits out of cells in the artery walls.

Aerobic exercise. At least 30 minutes on most days of the week is the exercise prescription that can help raise your HDL.

Losing weight. Being overweight or obese contributes to low HDL cholesterol levels. Thus loosing weight would help in increasing HDL.

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