Good health is clearly at the top of everyone's list. Everyone desires perfect health but far too few do what it takes to actually achieve it especially as they get older. Time goes on and one day they suddenly wake up to find themselves in a sticky health related situation and all too often, that sticky situation is showing up in the form of elevated levels of cholesterol.

Cholesterol - What is it and Why is it so Important?
Cholesterol is a waxy, fatty like substance that our body's need to assist it in producing a variety of hormones and cell membranes. Cholesterol is classified into two types, the good and the bad. Both the good cholesterol and "so-called" bad cholesterol are responsible for the proper functioning of the body but the bad cholesterol (if elevated) increases your chance of developing heart related diseases and of having a heart attack.

Controlling Your Cholesterol
In order to properly control cholesterol levels you need to understand what the optimal levels should be. Generally accepted guidelines say that the good cholesterol should be a minimum of 40mg/dL or more and that bad cholesterol levels should not be over 200mg/dL. Cholesterol is calculated as a constant, which means it doesn't depend on body weight - 200mg/dL for the bad and 40mg/dL for the good cholesterol is used whether you weigh 100 or 300 pounds. Of course, obesity is one of the leading causes of elevated bad cholesterol levels.

Cholesterol is best controlled through lifestyle changes (i.e. diet and exercise) but for those that don't have the discipline to make the necessary changes or they have and it didn't produce the desired results the other alternative is to use a cholesterol lowering drug (i.e. also called a statin drug).

Some cholesterol lowering drugs can be purchased over the counter while others can only be taken with a prescription from an authorized physician. It is highly recommended, due to the potential side effects, that you exhaust every possible natural option of controlling your cholesterol first, before turning to cholesterol lowering drugs but if you do decide to go the cholesterol lowering drug route be sure to work closely with your doctor to make sure you get one that works and has the fewest possible side effects.

As was just mentioned, there other ways that can be pursued to help lower your cholesterol besides taking a cholesterol lowering drug. A few of the most obvious include eating right and the way to achieve that is to pay attention to everything you eat; morning, noon, night and even the snacks.

Trans and saturated fats are the main culprits that raise bad cholesterol levels and they are usually clearly marked on product package labels.

Many foods that we eat on a daily basis contain cholesterol like butter, poultry, eggs, meat and milk. However, the answer isn't to totally avoid these types of food, the answer is to modify your diet in such a way that you can still enjoy them in moderation. Moderate and throw in some daily exercise and you should be well on your way to controlling your bad cholesterol without having to turn to a cholesterol lowering drug.

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