Changing the simple things you do like what you use in salad dressings, and marinades can go a long way to reducing the amount of cholesterol in your diet. The way you cook food can also alter the amount of cholesterol in your diet. You might find that food tastes better when you change the ways you cook. Instead of frying meat, try broiling or grilling. It probably won’t taste as good, but it’ll be good enough. Besides, I’d rather be eating “lite” burgers and steaks and live a lot longer.
A lot of the natural fat (read: cholesterol) in meat can be drained off. Buy a rack that you can use to drain off fat after cooking. Whether you baked, roasted, or broiled the meat using a rack to drain off the fat before serving will help to reduce the fat content in your meals. When you baste meat during cooking use wine, olive oil, or fruit juice instead of the meat juices. You will still keep the meat moist and tasty. Why does cholesterol have to make food taste better?!? hahaha.
Here’s the sucky part… more vegetables. Increasing the amount of vegetables that you eat in a day will help you avoid a high cholesterol diet. Vegetables have virtually no cholesterol and cooking vegetables with a little bit of olive, canola, or sunflower oil is a tasty and easy way to have vegetables as part of your meals. Ok, ok.. it’s not really that tasty.
As much as we try to lower our cholesterol, sometimes our genetic makeup really has us at a disadvantage. Enter cholesterol lowering drugs. Not the greatest option because I really don’t like shoving all sorts of chemicals and elements into my system. Alas, it’s the world we live in. I just hope our immune systems don’t start blocking out these cholesterol lowering drugs, thereby making them less effective. If you have high cholesterol and have tried everything you can to get your cholesterol levels down then it may be time for you to consider cholesterol lowering drugs. If dietary changes, increased physical activity and weight loss have not helped you to reduce your cholesterol levels to a desirable level then you should talk to your doctor about cholesterol lowering drugs.
As with any drugs there are pros and cons to using this kind of therapy to reduce cholesterol. You should think about whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Each person is different and you may not respond to the drugs as desired. Each cholesterol reducing drug has its own share of side-effects. Consult with your doctor as to which cholesterol lowering drug is right for you.
What Do The Drugs Exactly Do? Well, from what I’ve read on the subject (and by no means am I an expert) Statins are cholesterol lowering drugs that are known by different names. This drug is used to block the production of cholesterol in your body. These drugs can also be used to reabsorb cholesterol that has already accumulated on your artery walls. This can be a big help and will help to prevent further blockages to your arteries.
A family history of high cholesterol or a history of cardiovascular disease is an important factor in deciding if you should be put on this medication. Your blood pressure, present weight, age and gender will also be taken into consideration. Lifestyle factors such as how active you are and whether you smoke will also help determine if you should take cholesterol lowering drugs. If you do not have other risk factors as mentioned above and your only problem is high cholesterol then you may not need to go on any medication to lower your cholesterol levels.
Always question your doctor if you feel you are taking too much, seek a second opinion if you are not satisfied with the answers given to you. Going on medication like this is serious and you need to be totally sure that this is the right option for you. I’m glad to hear that Kelsey Grammer aka Dr. Frasier Crane is reported to be in “good health” and feeling a lot better.
