Keeping Your Cholesterol in Check By Brenda Williams At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Keeping your cholesterol in line is something that many (if not all) American adults and now younger children struggle with. While some people may have no choice but to refer to a physician's advice to take prescription medication to deal with high cholesterol as the result of a genetic abnormality, for most of us, our cholesterol is simply controlled by our diet and lifestyle choices.

A common misconception about cholesterol is that only people who are overweight have issues with high cholesterol. However, this is far from being true! In fact, there have been many professional athletes who have been diagnosed by their doctors as having high cholesterol. Look at football players. Day after day, they go through grueling training in order to dazzle crowds of people who flock to their games to watch them play. However, in their off-time when they're not training, they are “not so lean” eating machines. As a former college athlete, I remember watching the football players stumble noisily into the athletic dining hall in which I knew that it would only be a matter of time before the dining staff were scrambling to put out more food. Often when I would glance over at their plates of food (which you couldn't help but notice), I would see everything and anything that was meat-related piled up on top of some sort of starchy carb such as mashed potatoes, pasta or rice.

Even lean athletes are at risk and are diagnosed with high cholesterol. Make no mistake, just because you're skinny doesn't mean you are immune to it because even skinny people can make poor choices in the kinds of food that they put into their bodies. For example, if you do nothing but eat red meat at every meal with little else, you may be able to maintain your weight, but your cholesterol levels may be through the roof. Food items that are low in cholesterol or have none such as greek yogurt, oat meal and clean carbs are all great at bringing down cholesterol levels. The important thing to remember when trying to control your cholesterol is the same thing that should be applied to any type of eating habits that you are trying to develop for a healthy diet overall: eat in moderation.

Going to your favorite fast food restaurant to get a burger and a meal occasionally will not hurt you. However if you find that you are going out to your favorite fast food place where the staff recognizes you and knows what you're going to order, then you're not doing yourself any favors. A great way to gauge what you're eating is to look at your bank account statements, which list what you've spent money on in the past. This should give you a general idea of where your money is going. Eating can be expensive, so why not get the greatest benefit?

In addition to eating foods that are lower in cholesterol, you should definitely start to implement some sort of an exercise routine (if you haven't already) into your life. Whatever you do, you should strive to complete at least thirty minutes of vigorous cardio a minimum of four days a week. Even something as innocent as power cleaning your home for an hour can work wonders.

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