Do you have high cholesterol? You’re not alone—so do about 100 million other Americans. High cholesterol comes from a variety of sources, including your family history and what you eat.
Here are some of the most common causes.
Your diet
Eating too much saturated fat (like the kind found in this classic breakfast) can cause high cholesterol. You will find this unhealthy fat in foods that come from animals. Beef, pork, veal, milk, eggs, butter, and cheese contain saturated fat. Packaged foods that contain coconut oil, palm oil, or cocoa butter may have a lot of saturated fat. You will also find saturated fat in stick margarine, vegetable shortening, and most cookies, crackers, chips, and other snacks.
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Your weight
Your beer belly isn’t just bad for your social life. Being overweight may increase triglycerides and decrease HDL, or good cholesterol. Losing that gut can go a long way toward improving that body, too.
Your activity level
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Lack of physical activity may increase LDL, or bad cholesterol, and decrease HDL, or good cholesterol. So get moving!
Your age and gender
After you reach age 20, your cholesterol levels naturally begin to rise. In men, cholesterol levels generally level off after age 50. In women, cholesterol levels stay fairly low until menopause, after which they rise to about the same level as in men.
Your overall health
Don’t skip your annual physical, and be sure to have your doc explain your heart disease risk. Having certain diseases, such as diabetes or hypothyroidism, may cause high cholesterol.
Your family history
If family members have high cholesterol, you may also.
Cigarette smoking
Smoking can lower your good cholesterol. And it can kill you. So why not just go ahead and quit?
