Helping to lower your cholesterol
According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, close to 40% of Canadian adults have high blood cholesterol levels — a risk factor for heart disease. The good news is that you can help to lower your cholesterol by making small lifestyle changes. Here are five tips to help get you started:
1. Eat a balanced diet
Enjoy a variety of foods from Canada’s Food Guide every day. Plan your meals around heart healthy choices including vegetables, fruit, whole grains, lower-fat milk products, lean meat, and lower fat meat alternatives.
It’s easier than you think! Make a stir-fry for supper tonight with at least three different vegetables. Add berries or sliced fruit to low-fat yogurt, salads, and whole grain breakfast cereal. Try swapping white bread and white pasta for their higher fibre whole grain versions.
2. Include plant sterols in your daily diet
Small amounts of plant sterols are naturally found in a wide variety of vegetable oils, fruits, and vegetables, and are an effective addition to a cholesterol-lowering diet and lifestyle.
International health experts such as the American Heart Association, as part of the National Cholesterol Education Program, suggest eating 2 grams of plant sterols a day to enhance an LDL-cholesterol-lowering lifestyle and diet.
Becel pro.activ® contains plant sterols, which help to lower cholesterol. Two teaspoons (10 g) of Becel pro.activ® provides 40% of the daily amount of plant sterols shown to help lower cholesterol in adults. Consuming 2-3 servings of plant sterols fortified food, like Becel pro.activ®, helps lower cholesterol up to 9%.
Learn more about Plant Sterols – click here
3. Focus on the healthier fats
Eat less saturated and trans fats, replace them with unsaturated fats like polyunsaturated omega-3 fats. DHA and EPA are two types of polyunsaturated omega-3 fats, which are important for the maintenance of good health – and increasingly being recognized as important for heart health.
To include more polyunsaturated omega-3 fats in your diet, use canola oil and products made with canola oil. Look for foods enriched with DHA and EPA – including some soft non-hydrogenated margarines, eggs, lower fat milk and yogurt. Eat salmon, rainbow trout, and other fatty fish, at least twice a week.
4. Keep active
Just 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week can lead to many health benefits. By being more physically active, you:
- can help reduce your risk of heart disease;
- are less likely to develop high blood pressure, diabetes, colon cancer or osteoporosis;
- are taking positive steps to control your weight and stay in shape;
- benefit from improved mental health and well being – which reduces stress, improves self-esteem and helps you fall asleep (and sleep well) at night;
- may feel that you have more energy.
Go for a 30 minute jog, tennis game or bike ride once a day. Or, for similar health benefits, take a brisk 10 minute walk three times a day.
5. Give up smoking
Smoking cigarettes, even a few a day, can affect your heart health and could increase your risk of coronary heart disease by as much as 70%.
Stopping smoking is one of the most important decisions you can ever make for your heart, even if you’ve smoked for years. As soon as you stop, you’ll start to see the benefits. Your circulation will start to improve, your lungs will benefit, and, in the long term, it will help to keep your heart healthy.
If you smoke, quit or reduce the amount. Check out http://www.smokershelpline.ca/ for more information, or speak with your doctor.