Lower Cholesterol With Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC)

Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) provides a means of managing illness and reducing risk to common chronic conditions by living life in a way one can improve health.

The lifestyle changes that need to be done include diet, exercise, weight loss, and such other changes. Your doctor may recommend you to follow TLC even if you are taking   medication as medicine will be more effective if you maintain healthy eating and exercise habits.

Some elements of Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) include the following:

Diet
A diet with reduced   amount of saturated fat is ideal

Exercise
Get to exercise three times a week for at least 30 minutes each. Exercise is anything like walking fast, running, biking, or playing basketball, which gets your heart rate higher to about 120-160 beats per minute.

Weight loss
As excess weight tends to increase cholesterol level, losing about 5 to 10 pounds (2.3 to 4.5 kilograms) can help lower your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Having a diet low in saturated fat as well as cholesterol, regular exercise, and cutting calories will help you lose weight.

Other lifestyle changes to consider in order to improve your general health are to quit smoking cigarettes, limit your alcohol intake and reduce stress.

Smoking cigarette is one of the leading preventable causes of death. It is believed to decreases your HDL ("good") cholesterol and change LDL cholesterol to a form that promotes the buildup of deposits in the walls of the coronary arteries. Smoking increases the overall chance of developing heart disease merely because it damages your heart and blood vessels.

The health benefits of alcohol are not in the substance itself but in the lifestyle of those who drink it. Drinking in moderation might also prove to be beneficial but too much alcohol can raise blood pressure, it also can harm the liver, brain, and heart.

Stress impacts your health as it is likely to lead to physical disorders. Although eliminating stress is impossible, try to minimize stressful situations as much as possible at work, at home, and elsewhere. You may also ask a health professional for advice on stress reduction techniques.