Keep Cholesterol in Check

by Mardy Fones

Chest pain was a wake-up call for John Summers, a police officer in Quincy, Ill. (pop. 40,366). After being diagnosed with coronary artery disease in 2002, he took seriously his physician’s advice to exercise, lose weight and cut cholesterol, a key factor in heart disease, from his diet.

Today, he’s 36 pounds lighter, works out daily and eats a diet that’s long on lean meats, vegetables and fruit. Forget fried food and other fat-laded foods loaded with cholesterol—he doesn’t miss them.

“It’s all worth it. My brother is five years younger than I am and he can’t keep up with me now,” says Summers, 51. “I feel great, better than I have in years.”

For many people learning to keep cholesterol under the recommended level of 200 is a challenge. “You need cholesterol for good health,” says Robert Williams, a physician at Angel Medical Center in Franklin, N.C. (pop. 3,490). “But most people don’t realize our bodies make all the cholesterol we need.”

Found in meats, eggs, oils such as butter, lard and palm kernel oil, and dairy products such as whole milk, excess cholesterol becomes a waxy substance called plaque. Plaque travels in the blood stream and attaches to artery walls. As arteries thicken because of the plaque build-up, less blood reaches the heart. The result can be coronary artery disease and heart attack.

Dr. Williams recommends having your cholesterol checked with a blood test every three years, beginning at age 20 and more often if your physician recommends it. While a cholesterol check from a community health screening is convenient, to get an accurate measure, he suggest having it tested in your doctor’s office after you have not eaten for 10 to 12 hours.

Family history can be a factor in high cholesterol for some people, but for most, lifestyle change is key. “The way you eat, your activity level and other things, such as not smoking, are more important,” Dr. Williams says.

Only a small percentage of people with high cholesterol need medication and even with it, exercise, not smoking and a healthful diet are a must.

Lowering high cholesterol starts with smart food choices. “People who eat fast food or commercial pastries, snack food and frozen dinners run a risk of high cholesterol because of the kind of fat they contain,” says Kathy Jochem, a clinical nurse specialist in the Heart and Vascular Center at Blessing Hospital in Quincy, Ill.

She recommends lean, unbreaded meat that is broiled or baked, plenty of fresh fruits, and vegetables without sauces or butter. Fat-free milk and cheese, and whole grains such as whole wheat bread and rice, also are cholesterol busters.

“When you do use oil, choose liquid or tub margarines instead of butter, or use canola or olive oil,” Jochem suggests. “These have lower levels of (the kind of) fat that raise cholesterol.”

For snacks, opt for air-popped popcorn over the buttered variety, pretzels over potato chips, and low-fat frozen yogurt over ice cream.

Exercise and not using tobacco products also are important. “Exercise increases so-called ‘good cholesterol’ and decreases ‘bad cholesterol’,” Jochem adds, explaining that the increase in circulation helps moves plaque out of the body. It has the added benefit of burning extra calories while increasing muscle strength. Because tobacco helps plaque stick to artery walls, giving it up also reduces cholesterol-related plaque build up.

“A healthy lifestyle is the first step to managing cholesterol,” Dr. Williams says. “It can be challenging, but it’s worth it because it pays off in good health.”

Mardy Fones is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tenn.

first appeared: 2/8/2004