Prevention

You can help prevent high cholesterol by:

• Eating a diet low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol.
• Getting plenty of exercise.
• Managing your weight.
• Not smoking.

For more information, see Heart-Healthy Lifestyle.

Heart-healthy diets include the Mediterranean diet and the American Heart Association diet recommendations. This chart compares several heart-healthy diets(What is a PDF document?).

Because cholesterol levels tend to increase with age, paying attention to diet and exercise is even more important as you get older.

Some people may not be able to prevent high cholesterol with lifestyle changes. Family history or certain conditions that cause the body to make too much cholesterol can raise levels even with lifestyle changes. In these cases, medicine can help.

Remember that high cholesterol is just one of the things that increase your risk for heart attack and stroke. Controlling other health problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, can also help reduce your overall risk.