4 ways to lead a cholesterol-healthy lifestyle

18 Aug 2015

Leading a healthy life and sticking to a diet isn’t easy for everyone, especially when there is a lot of conflicting information available on the internet.

The Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute has just published The Baker IDI Healthy Cholesterol Diet and Lifestyle Plan, which offers readers over 80 healthy and delicious recipes and suggested four-week meal plans. 

Here, author Professor Garry Jennings offers a few helpful tips to get you started. 

1. Know your numbers

“Know what your cholesterol levels and blood fats are. That has to be taken in the context of other factors like your blood pressure, whether or not you have diabetes, tobacco smoking and how physically active you are. Go to the doctor and have these things checked. They become especially important if you have a history of heart stroke or vascular diseases.”

2. Don’t be afraid of modern medicine

‘If you’ve done everything you can with your lifestyle, like diet and remaining physically active, and your doctor feels you need medicine, take it. The types of medication we have available are very safe and effective and have been proven without any question to not only save lives, but reduce people's discomfort and disability.” 

3. Avoid fad diets

“As far as food is concerned, there are many fad diets out there and they work for a while, but in the long-term, what you need is a balanced diet with a focus on fresh fruits and vegetables and seeds and nuts in moderation. It’s important to keep it all balanced with all the main food groups - proteins, fats and carbohydrates.”

4. Read labels

“I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is not reading the labels on what they eat,” said Professor Garry Jennings, noting how important is to actually read the small text at the back of packages to find out what’s really inside what you’re eating.

"Saying something has a third less salt is not helpful if there is already a huge amount of salt in it in the first place. Those messages can be very misleading.”