Whenever someone takes a cholesterol blood test, there will normally be four numbers given to you which refer to the levels for LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL (good cholesterol), triglycerides and total cholesterol. The doctor will be looking to see if any of these figures is considerably above the standard for your age and sex.

If they are too high, then the doctor will make one of two recommendations. First of all, the physician ought to recommend lifestyle changes but if these fail then it is a lifetime of tablets. Some individuals have cholesterol problems for genetic reasons and for these people, medication might be the only solution.

The most common lifestyle changes that are usually recommended are dietary alterations and exercise. If your readings are particularly high, you may have to take severe measures to lower your cholesterol levels quickly.

Regrettably, once people begin taking anti-cholesterol tablets, they seldom come off them, so it is better to attempt other methods first of all. The predominant ways are reducing dietary saturated fat and increasing the degree of exercise dramatically.

Most individuals have an idea what cholesterol is and that it has two aspects, but not a lot of people know what triglycerides are. Triglyceride is also a sort of fat and if it is in profusion, it is a frequent indication that cholesterol is high as well, which means that it is an indicator of possible future heart disease.

The quickest manner of decreasing the levels of these fats in your blood is to stop eating saturated fats and trans fats. Red meats and full-fat dairy products are our main source of saturated fat. This means that if you want to engage the emergency brake, stop eating junk food, steak, pork, cheese and cream and stop drinking milk. You ought to also cut out trans fats which are hydrogenated vegetable oils as used in some margarines, pastry and crisps.

Putting an immediate block on these foods will have an immediate and spectacular effect on your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. If you have to have a spread on your bread, try one of those that actually reduce cholesterol levels rather than elevate them.

The best thing is to start with breakfast. Forget anything fried; porridge is very good for you as is wholemeal bread. You can eat an occasional boiled, poached or scrambled egg, because it is a myth that eggs are dangerous to the sufferer from high cholesterol.

Steak and pork have to be limited to very infrequent treats, yet chicken without skin is not too bad for you and fish is positively good. Try to boil, grill or steam food rather than fry it yet if you require to use oil, use olive oil.

Fresh fruit, vegetables and grains are fantastic allies in the battle against high cholesterol, and so is exercise. Exercise does not have to be energetic, a half-hour’s walk in the morning and the evening will help a great deal. If you cannot find the motivation, adopt a dog.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on several subjects, but is now concerned with low fat low cholesterol diet. If you want to know more, please visit our site at What Foods Lower Cholesterol?