How to Increase HDL - Raise the Good and Lower the Bad with These Easy Tips

How to Increase HDL - Learning how to increase HDL is going to be very important to your overall heart health. Often known as good cholesterol, this type is known as high density lipoprotein and it actually picks up the bad levels within the body and helps to eliminate them. When you have higher levels of this good cholesterol, you are better protected against heart attacks and other types of cardiovascular problems.

When your levels of HDL are too low, it can lead to problems because this allows your levels of LDL cholesterol to become higher because the good is not able to work on eliminating the bad. While it is important to focus on lowering your bad levels, working to increase the good is going ot be just as important to your overall health.

The Role of Food : When you are wanting to find out how to increase HDL, you'll find that the role of food is actually a big one. There are a variety of different foods that are known to help increase the level of good cholesterol within your body. One important food you should be adding to your diet is anything that contains Omega 3 fatty acids. You can find these fatty acids in oily fish, and they are well known for helping to increase the good cholesterol within the body.

Of course, there are other foods that can have a big impact on good levels as well. You'll find that eating plenty of fruits and veggies can help and anything that contains soluble fiber can help to increase the good HDL levels and they also help to eliminate the bad LDL cholesterol at the same time.

You'll find that not only is it important that you eat the right foods, but avoiding certain foods is important as well. Try to avoid anything with trans fats and make sure you limit fried foods within the body.
The Role of Exercise : While food is definitely important if you want to know how to increase HDL, you'll also find that the role of exercise is very important as well. In fact, exercise is probably the best thing you can do if you want to improve the levels of good cholesterol. Those who exercise on a regular basis are proven to have higher good levels, which leads to lower bad levels of HDL as well.

You don't have to live at the gym to get results though. In fact, most studies recommend that you get 30 minutes of exercise 3-5 days out of the week. Making this lifestyle change is enough to help you raise the levels of HDL, helping to reduce negative health problems.

The right diet and a good exercise regimen are two of the big things you can do to naturally get the levels of good cholesterol above 60, which is the optimum level for you. If you have low levels, which is below 40, or below 50 in women, it's time to do something about it. Start exercising, watch what you eat, and consider supplements so you can find out how to increase HDL naturally.