5 Strategies to Boost Your Good (HDL) Cholesterol

Good cholesterol (HDL) is helpful in preventing plaque buildup and heart attacks. We have great medications (principally the stain drugs) for lowering the LDL cholesterol. However, the pharmacologic options for raising HDL levels are much more limited.

Certainly, your HDL is strongly influenced by your genes, yet lifestyle and diet are also very important in determining your HDL level. The bottom line is that although your HDL level is a crucial number in predicting your long-term health and longevity, at least for the next several years, boosting this level into a healthy range is mostly up to you. Here's what works.

1. Curb the Carbs Eliminate sugar and other processed carbohydrates like white bread, rolls, white flour, white rice, cookies, and other sweets. These high-glycemic index foods spike triglycerides and blood sugar and drag your HDL down.
2. Change Your Oil The omega-3 fats in fish oil can raise HDL about 8 percent. Other healthy oils that foster higher HDL levels can be found in natural foods like avocados, ground flaxseed, extra-virgin olive oil, green leafy vegetables, and nuts (especially tree nuts like walnuts, pecans, almonds, and Brazil nuts). On the other hand, trans fats, like those in French fries and commercial baked goods, will lower the protective HDL levels.
3. Achieve and Maintain a Healthy Weight Excess body fat, especially around the waist, will depress your HDL, and increase your risks for diabetes, heart attack and stroke. For every six pounds of excess weight you can shed, your HDL will rise 1 mg/dL.
4. Clean Up Your Act Smoking tobacco will lower your HDL by 5 mg/dL; whereas kicking this lethal habit will quickly bounce your HDL back up to baseline. Drinking one alcoholic drink per day will raise your HDL by about 4 mg/dL. More alcohol will raise your HDL even more, but will increase your risk for other problems like cancer, stroke, and accidents.
5. Move Your Body Exercise, especially aerobic exercise like walking, running, swimming and cycling, will raise the HDL level in a dose-dependent fashion-the more exercise you do, and the more intense the effort, the higher your HDL will rise. Ideally, we like to see people exercising aerobically 40 to 60 minutes daily, and doing strength training at least 20 to 30 minutes at least twice weekly.