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High cholesterol is when you have too much of a fatty substance called cholesterol in your blood. Your body needs a certain amount of cholesterol to build healthy cells, but high levels of cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease. How? “With high cholesterol, you can develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels. “Eventually, these deposits grow, making it difficult for enough blood to flow through your arteries,” explains Mayo Clinic.
There are two main types of cholesterol – “good” cholesterol (called HDL) and “bad” cholesterol (called LDL and non-HDL).
LDL cholesterol has earned its infamous moniker because it sticks to the inside of your artery walls, thereby clogging them up and restricting the blood flow to your heart.
HDL cholesterol counteracts this process by picking up LDL cholesterol and transporting it to the liver, where it is flushed out.
The key to keeping harmful cholesterol and its associated risks at bay therefore lies in lowering LDL levels and increasing HDL levels.
The dietary decisions you make are integral to this effort and there are some general principles to adhere to.
According to the cholesterol charity Heart UK, one of the most important is to swap saturated fats for heart-healthy fats.
Food containing saturated fats, which are found in many sweet and savoury foods, will increase the levels of bad cholesterol in your blood.
A healthy tip is to choose vegetable-based spreads and oils instead of butter, lard, ghee, coconut, and palm oil to cut down on saturated fat, says Heart UK.
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One vegetable oil that has been singled out for its cholesterol-lowering effects is sunflower oil, which is made by pressing the seeds of the Helianthus annuus plant.
According to nutritional research, the heart-healthy benefits of sunflower oil are attributed to monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid.
Some research suggests that a diet rich in monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid may help reduce high cholesterol levels and thus your risk of heart disease.
A study in 15 healthy adults found that those who ate a diet rich in high oleic sunflower oil for 10 weeks had significantly lower blood levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides, compared with those who ate a diet containing a similar amount of saturated fat.
Another study in 24 people with high blood lipid levels observed that consuming a diet with high oleic sunflower oil for eight weeks led to significant increases in HDL (good) cholesterol, compared with a diet without sunflower oil.
This is in line with other findings, which have led the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a qualified health claim for high oleic sunflower oil and products with a similar fatty acid composition.
In addition to making healthier dietary decisions, exercising regularly plays a key role in reducing cholesterol.
According to the NHS, you should aim to do at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of exercise a week to reap the benefits.
Some good things to try when starting out include:
- Walking – try to walk fast enough so your heart starts beating faster
- Swimming
- Cycling.
“Try a few different exercises to find something you like doing. You’re more likely to keep doing it if you enjoy it,” advises the NHS.
It is also imperative to shun smoking – smoking can raise your cholesterol and make you more likely to have serious problems like heart attacks, strokes and cancer.
If you want to stop smoking, you can get help and support from:
- Your GP
- The NHS Stop Smoking Service – your GP can refer you or you can ring the helpline on 0300 123 1044 (England only).
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