۵ Tips for Reducing Your Cholesterol Without Medication

If you just found out that you have high cholesterol, you might be wondering what your options are to lower it.
Cholesterol can be lowered using prescription medication, which is often the first-line recommended treatment. Extremely high cholesterol needs to be addressed with a prescription treatment plan as soon as possible.

However, if your cholesterol is considered mildly or moderately high, you may be able to lower it without medication. This article will explain the strategies you can try at home to bring down your cholesterol numbers.

Tips for reducing your cholesterol
It’s normal to want to try to control cholesterol with lifestyle choices, diet, and supplements as the first line of treatment rather than starting medication.
Steps you can take to lower your cholesterol without medication include the following six tips:
1. Avoid trans and saturated fats
Eating foods that contain saturated or trans fats can increase your cholesterol level. The American Heart Association recommends reducing saturated fat intake to less than 6 percent of your daily calories.

۲. Eat lots of soluble fiber
Upping your daily intake of soluble fiber can decrease low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
Taking psyllium supplements and eating oatmeal for breakfast are easy ways to increase the amount of soluble fiber you consume every day. You can also load up on fruits and veggies to get that fiber intake even higher.

۳. Exercise
If you’re considered medically overweight, your chances of having high cholesterol increase. But it’s also important to mention that the idea that thin people can’t have high cholesterol is a misconception.
Cardiovascular exercise can help to keep your weight at a healthy range and can also boost your heart health. Walking, jogging, biking, and swimming are all exercises that can help lower cholesterol, especially if you do them three times per week or more.

۴. Try fish oil supplements
Fish oil supplements contain omega 3-chain fatty acids. These acids may help lower triglycerides, although research is mixed. Taking fish oil may not directly lower LDL, but it can have other benefits, such as lowering inflammation in your body.

۵. Take a garlic supplement
There’s some evidence to suggest that taking garlic supplements can moderately reduce LDL cholesterol.
As early as 2000, research suggested that garlic may help to reduce your body’s absorption of cholesterol and lower triglycerides in your blood. But more research is needed to definitively understand how garlic is linked to lower cholesterol levels.
You can find garlic supplements at any health food store or simply start using more raw garlic in your cooking at home.

Why try to reduce cholesterol without medication?
You might not want to take medication to bring your cholesterol down for several reasons.
Statins are a type of medication used to manage high cholesterol. The side effects of statins may be seen by some as worse than the risks of having high cholesterol. These side effects can include:
• muscle pain
• fatigue
• dizziness
• sluggish digestion
• low blood platelet count

Statin use may also lead you to develop other conditions, such as type 2 diabetes. If you’re already at a higher risk for developing these types of conditions, you may want to talk with a healthcare professional about avoiding statins if possible.
When to seek medical care for high cholesterol
There aren’t any specific symptoms to indicate that you might have high cholesterol. Many people with high cholesterol don’t know that they have it.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you should get your cholesterol levels checked:
• every 5 years after you turn age 20
• more often if you have a family history of high cholesterol or cardiovascular conditions